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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29439843">Isekai Quartet #1: A Fated Revolution</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleCrouch1/pseuds/NoelleCrouch1'>NoelleCrouch1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Issekai Quartet [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:40:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>30,099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29439843</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleCrouch1/pseuds/NoelleCrouch1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Four friends find themselves sucked into the world of One Piece. Each one brings their own special skills, and a collective three and a half brain cells. Can they not only survive, but overthrow the World Government?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Issekai Quartet [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One group of friends, One stranded Island, One sea adventure. What could go wrong?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you for checking this series out. The first five chapters are about the OCs, to give people a sense of these characters and their interactions. The Straw Hats will be introduced in chapter 6. Thank you for your patience.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Usopp is on his way back! Just hold out a little longer.” I heard Mitch yell, panic in his voice. Our captain had been trying to hit the marine admiral in front of him for the last five minutes, to no avail. We all knew better than to try to step in, knowing he wouldn’t forgive us for intruding on one of his fights.  </p><p> </p><p>“Ooh, that is surprising.” Kizaru said, his sarcastic tone ringing in my ears, “I guess I have to end this quickly then.” Those words struck fear into my heart, knowing the different levels in our strength. Despite my work on weight control, my feet felt heavy on the ground, as if all my weight was sinking me into the dirt. Mitch had a similar expression, though his was more subtle. I could tell he was trying to keep his feelings hidden, to not hurt the morale of those around him.   </p><p>That is when the first attack was struck. Zoro rushed forward, his blades a deep black. His face held an expression of intense focus, his eyes glowing with murderous intent. Yet, his attack fell on emptiness, as a blinding light filled the air around us. When I finally regained sight, my heart became as heavy as my feet were. Kizaru was standing behind Nami, a bright light behind her back.  </p><p> </p><p>“Na...” were the only words that could escape my lips, as a high ping rang out. Blood splattered forward, as light penetrated Nami’s back. The crew went silent, as we all stared forward in shock. A crimson river ran down her mouth, dripping off of her chin, her eyes holding a look of desperation and fear. The only movement that came from the navigator was her muscles twitching as she fell to the ground. Finally, the silence was broken by the scream of hellish rebuke.  </p><p> </p><p>“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sanji yelled, soaring through the air at the admiral, a righteous anger in his eyes, his foot aflame, “DIABLE JAMBE!” He propelled his foot forward, moving faster than he ever had before, sending a shockwave from his kick. It was for naught, however, as Kizaru caught the kick midair.  </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, how scary.” He said, pointing his finger at the chef, “I guess you will be next.” The tip of his finger lit up, and we knew that the same attack was coming.  </p><p> </p><p>“NO!” Luffy cried out, throwing his arm back for a punch. Unfortunately, he was too slow, as the same light ripped through Sanji, causing blood to fly from his mouth. The fire illuminating from his foot died down, as Kizaru dropped his seemingly lifeless body. That was when Luffy’s punch ripped at the admiral, only to be dodged again.  </p><p> </p><p>“Now, now.” Kizaru said, shifting behind Zoro, “This is the cost of your weakness. Watch as your crew dies around you.” Before the swordsman could turn around, he suffered the same fate as the other two crewmates. One by one, Kizaru took out our fellow crewmates, leaving only us four earthlings left.  </p><p> </p><p>“Please... hurry...” I begged, praying that Usopp would be here soon. My prayers were interrupted by movement. Another burst of light. Another target. I scanned quickly, seeing the admiral behind one of the most important people too me, Rain.   </p><p> </p><p>“No! Not her!” I screamed, my desperation outweighing my fear. I launched forward my fist, allowing it to turn a solid gold, before shifting to black. Big mistake. I don’t know why I thought my attack would work. Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all. All I know is, Kizaru caught my punch with ease, before slicing through my arm with a sword of pure light.   </p><p> </p><p>My scream of pain was harmonized with another, as tears streamed down from my eyes. The blade that had cut into my arm had also cut deep into Rain's side. Her cries hurt more than my missing limb, as I watched the crimson pool stain her clothes. She dropped like the others, her eyes barely showing any sign of life.  </p><p> </p><p>There was another yell. Mitch was shooting lasers at Kizaru, who was dodging them with ease. Next to him, Nice was firing cannonballs from his arms, his face contorted in anger and grief. The smile never left Kizaru’s face, as he shot two more lasers of light through my other two friends. That’s when I finally heard it, the pattering of heavy footsteps.  </p><p> </p><p>“U...sopp... please...” I said, my words barely escaping through my sobs. Kizaru turned his attention to Usopp, and saw the long-nosed sniper pulling back a shot. Light flew from Kizaru again, right as Ussop released the tension of Kabuto. He was too slow, as the impact sent the glistening object off course. Like the others, blood flew from Usopp’s mouth, and he dropped. Finally, the admiral turned to Luffy, who was breathing heavily from his failed attempts to take out Kizaru.  </p><p> </p><p>“Your weakness got them killed. You failed them as a captain. Now, you get to die knowing this information.” The admiral said, his sarcastic voice adding an extra punch to the revelation. He launched himself forward as a beam of light, but failed to notice the glinting object that now flew into his path. He hit the object, which I now realized was a prism, spitting into a rainbow that surrounded my fallen crew.   </p><p> </p><p>I looked around, my mouth agape. Curses rang out in my mind. The situation had gotten worse, despite me thinking it was impossible. Surrounding me, in an assortment of shapes, stood seven different Kizaru’s, each a different color of the light spectrum.  </p><p> </p><p>“No...” I groaned, as I heard a thump behind me. Finally, my consciousness left me, as a silhouette shrouded me. </p><p> </p><p>Now you may be asking, “Noelle, how in the world did you not only end up in One Piece, but ended up making things so much worse?” Ah, you are asking the right question. Well, the answer to that is a very long story, filled with adventure, romance, political intrigue, and a talk show called “Bottle Episode.” Plain and simple, this is the story of four regular earth adults who got sucked into the highest selling manga of all time, and were given one major goal: to ensure that a certain Monkey D. Luffy became the Pirate King.  </p><p> </p><p>The last thing that I remember from our original life is a bright light filling my vision. I have since learned that the bright light happened to be the multiverse’s greatest known assassin, Truck-kun. It was my own fault, though. I was joking around with one of my best friends, and ex-girlfriend, Rain, when I took my eyes off the road. If I had been paying attention, I could have saved us. At least, that is what I keep telling myself. My friends forgave me, but I haven’t been able to forgive myself.  </p><p> </p><p>After the crash, I was in a world of darkness. The sensations in this world are hard to express, so I want you to do something for me. Turn off all noise in your room. Now, turn off the lights, and close your eyes. Sit there, and imagine the feeling of wet, soppy carpet licking up and around your feet. Imagine your body is heavy, pulling you down, trying to drown you into the carpet. Now, imagine your brain screaming at you that you are in danger, that you need to escape. Take that feeling, and multiply it by 1000. That is what it was like in that dark world.  </p><p> </p><p>As I walked through the darkness, fighting the screams of panic in my brain, all I could hear was a whisper. I couldn’t make out the words, but the voice was high, and urgent. It drew me towards it, summoning me like a siren’s call. With every step I took towards the voice, the heavier they became, as if the darkness was holding me itself. My body continued to slow, being pulled down by the darkness surrounding me. Still, I pushed on.  Pursuing further into the darkness, I forced myself to work against the darkness, heading towards the voice. </p><p> </p><p>I could make out more of what the voice was now. It was a harmony of people, all crying out in desperation. They were calling my name, the yearning in their voices tugging at my hear. Though I didn't recognize the voices, something semmed familiar in them, almost comforting. Something in me head told me to run towards the voices. It told me that they were safe, and that they would comfort me. Considering it was either head towards the voices, or be drowned in the soggy darkness, I was far more ok with risking the former. </p><p> </p><p>As I continued forward, I continued to sink into the darkness. It rose up to my knees now, which made the wadding even harder. I felt my pace slow considerably, the carpet feeling now resembling molases more than anything. Desperation screamed in my mind, refusing to give up. I had to escape here. I had to make sure that my friends were ok. If they weren't... If I had killed them... No. I couldn't let those thoughts bog me down. The darkness was up to my naval now, but still I fought. </p><p> </p><p>"Noelle! Come back to us!" </p><p> </p><p>Come back? The words mixed confusion into my desperate mind. What do they mean come back? The thought flashed in my brain that they could be my friends, just trying to bring me back, but I shook the thoughts away. It was impossible. I would have recognized their voices. These voices... They were too distorted for it to be them. The darkness was at my nipples now, and I was almost ready to give in. That was when a miracle happened. A light shone through in front of me, and it seemed to be the source of the voices. I felt the darkness start to pull back slowly, as if the closer I got to the light, the weaker my captor became. </p><p> </p><p>The darkness was halfway up my shins now, but clinging desperately. I was stationary, the strength of my captor officially outweighing me. I was so close. So close to freedom. So close to understanding what this place was. </p><p> </p><p>"Noelle..." A single voice said. I... I recognized this one, but I couldn't put a name to it. "Please... Don't leave me. You promised." I promised? Whho did I promise? The questions buzzed in my head like wasps, stinging into my brain over and over. Regardless of whomever I promised, I still made a promise. Summoning all the strength I had, I ripped my left leg from the darkness holding it, slamming down in front of me. For the first time since I had been in this bizarre dimension, it didn't sink. My foot rest solidly on top of the blackness. Seizing the opportunity, I used my now free leg as leverage, and forced myself out of the darkness holding me. I was free, finally free. Sprinting as fast as I could, which admittedly wasn't very fast, I pressed myself towards the light. I feared that, if I slowed down for a second, the darkness would completely swallow me up.  </p><p> </p><p>I was never a solid runner. A few seconds after I started my sprint, I felt a piecing pain in my lungs. Needles stabbed them through the bottom, each breath only adding more. I wanted to slow down. To give up hope. To drop to the ground, and let the darkness drag me into depressing bliss, but those words still echoed in my mind. </p><p> </p><p>"You promised." </p><p> </p><p>Right. I made a promise. I pushed through the pain, feeling myself speed up once again. Though I knew that it was only an incrimental increase of speed, it felt like I was going faster than light. Nothing could stop me, not until I hit the light. I had a promise to keep, and I was going to be damn well sure I kept it. Only a few more steps, and I would be at the light. I felt the darkness try to grab my feet, to hold me back, but everytime it started to get a grasp, I took another step. Finally, I was at the light. Reaching my arm out, I tried to hold onto the light, only to feel myself sucked into it. </p><p> </p><p>The light was blinding. Sunlight burned my corneas, causing me to quickly shield them from the onslaught. Upon my skin, I felt the coarseness of sand scratching away. The sensation filled me with anxiety. It made me think of the cringy Star Wars quote about sand. It was fun to meme on, but I related to that quote completly. Sand was rough. It was coarse. It did get everywhere. And as an autistic woman, it caused me sensory issues beyond belief. Through the anxiety, my mind filled with questions of why I was laying in the sand. </p><p> </p><p>"She is waking up!"  </p><p> </p><p>I recognized that voice. It was the voice that I heard in the dark dimension. The one I supposedly made a promise to. This time, I had the name for the voice. It belonged to my ex, Rain. After our break-up, we hadn't spoken to each other for a while. Fortunately, we had decided to become friends again recently, and had become rather close again. We helped each other a lot with issues we faced in life. We loved each other, though two different kinds of love. I resigned myself, however, to the friendship. She was happier now, and that what was most important. </p><p> </p><p>"Is she ok?" I heard a distant voice call. I recognized this voice as well. This voice belonged to my best friend, Mitch. He was hands down the person I was the closest to in life. Ever since we met in middle school, we had been close. We were so similar, yet so different as well. Mitch was a private person, though direct. He didn't reveal a lot of his thoughts and desires, but he was forthcoming on his thoughts and reasons behind things. I was far too open about everything, often times going along with jokes purely for the sake of comedy. However, I had a flaw of beating around the book or hiding my feelings in an attempt to avoid conflict. Anxiety will do that to you. He was ambivilant to most things in life. I was far too passionate about everything. However, we were both still smart, with passions for literature, science, and mathematics. Our sass was even to each other, and we often found ourselves hanging out for hours and hours on end. It was easy to see how we became such great friends to the passive observer. </p><p> </p><p>"I think so. It is hard to tell. She has't said anything yet." Rain yelled back over. As my sight slowly returned, I noticed two humanoid shapes leaning over me. As they came into focus, I recognized the concerned look that adorned Rain's face, which should rent for how often it resided there. The other figure, however, was a stranger with a familiar feel. </p><p> </p><p>"Well," I finally said, trying to sit up, "'She' is still processing what the fuck is going on." Right when I reached the apex of my attempt, I felt Rain's arms engulf me in a bear hug. Nearly falling back into the dirt, I saw Mitch start heading back my way, a hopeful look plastered on his face. "By the way," I said, turning the mysterious figure, "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" The stranger responded to my question witha  teasing smile. </p><p> </p><p>"I know I haven't been on T that long, Noelle, but I thought you could at least put it together." He said, his voice holding the same, familiar-yet-strange feel to it. I racked my brain for whomever this could be, when it finally hit me like... Well, like a Gum Gum Pistol. </p><p> </p><p>"NICO!?" </p><p> </p><p>"That is right." Nico said, grinning. Now that I was taking a closer, I could see familiar features in his face and body. He was the same height as the Nico I knew, and his head was the same shape. In fact, all of him looked the same, except he was more muscular, with a solid lumberjack-style beard.  </p><p> </p><p>"Holy shit, Nico. You... You look great!" I exclaimed, a smile on face. "Like, you fully transitioned!" </p><p> </p><p>"Not just fully transitioned. My body finally matches my gender, as if I was born in it." He said, his tenor voice like silk. "And I am not the only one." He nodded his head in my direction, scanning me up and down. In my time trying to understand my surroundings, I hadn't noticed the weight on my chest. Looking down, I saw what can only be described as two bowling balls of fat protruding from my chest. Strands of long black hair seemd to fall down over them, which seemed to originate from my scalp.  </p><p> </p><p>"What the..." I gasped. My voice was even higher pitched, resonating around a soprano tone. Normally, I would have been excited to finally be in the body I desired so bad. However, with the weird dream I had, and the sensory issues sending my brain into panic mode, all I could do was sit in shock. Nothing made sense, at least, not scientifically. How was I finally in a woman's body? How did Nico transition? How did we all get here? Why isn't anyone else freaking out about this? </p><p> </p><p>"isekai." Mitch said, seeming to read my thoughts.  </p><p> </p><p>"What?" I asked, turning my head to him. I had heard the words, but my brain wasn't fully processing anything. </p><p> </p><p>"Come on Noelle. We talk about this literally every time we hang out. This is a classic issekai situation. We died in the car accident, and woke up in another world. You and Nico ended up in the bodies that best alligned with who you really are. The only question is..." Mitch started to look around again, "is this a completely fabricated world, or one that we have read about or seen before?" He began to look around, trying to find any signs of where we were. </p><p> </p><p>"Well, that is great." I said, finally starting to process what was happening. Nico and Rain helped me to my feet, allowing me to stretch my body. I noticed that Rain and Nico were shorter than I remembered, which confused me. </p><p> </p><p>"Holy shit!" Rain exclaimed, scanning my body, "You are taller than before." I realized that she was right, and I was foolish to think that the other two had shrunk. Based on Rain's height, I inferred I was around 6 and a half feet, which made me feel good inside. Was I finally the big tittied, giant, goth GF I had always wanted to be? </p><p> </p><p>"Hey guys." Mitch said from a distance, "I don't mean to be rude, but the sun is gonna be setting soon. If we want any hope of survival, we need to start collecting materials." </p><p> </p><p>"You know," Mitch said, looking me over once again, "I have a good idea of which world we are in." I looked at him inquisitvely. Mitch was smart, smarter than most people I knew, but even I was impressed if he already found out which world we now resided. </p><p> </p><p>"Which world is that?" I asked, approaching him.  </p><p> </p><p>"Noelle, look at your chest." He said with a chuckle, "Those are some Oda-sized bazoongas. We are in One Piece." I looked down, realizing he was right. I was filled with joy. We were in my favorite world setting, with limitless possibilities. All the times I dreamed about what I would do, all the times people made fun of me for watching the series, would finally be worth it. I yelled out in joy. </p><p> </p><p>"Noelle..." </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, Mitch?" </p><p> </p><p>"We are in the world of One Piece." He said, more intensely. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I know." I responded, "It is awesome." </p><p> </p><p>"Noelle, think about this. Blackbeard? Kaido? Akainu?" Mitch said, stressing each name. That was when I felt my joy fly out of me, as my heart sank. I was a normal woman, with neurodivergent tendencies, in a world of literal monsters. At best, I would maybe meet the straw hats and ride it out with them. At worst, I wouldn't even survive THIS island. Then, there was the fact that my friends were stuck here with me. Would I have to watch them die around me?  </p><p> </p><p>"Fuck..." I whispered. I hadn't felt this small since... Well, we won't get into my past. I looked at my friends, all who were looking at me with concern. Trying to summon any strength I could, I steeled my resolve, and painted a fake smile on my face. "Well, I guess we will have to play our cards right then." Rain squinted at me. I knew that she was able to see past my facade. I loved her, but damn her for being an empath. </p><p> </p><p>"Way ahead of you," Mitch said, pulling her attention away from me. "I have already come up with some training ideas for us. But first, we need to focus on surviving, ok?" We all nodded, deferring to Mitch as the leader for the time being. He gave his commands, sending Rain and I out to find lumber, while he and Nico searched for food. The question came up of protecting ourselves, however. </p><p> </p><p>"What if we come across some dangerous animal, or pirates?" Rain had asked, ready to do whatever it took to survive. Mitch turned to her, holding three large rocks. </p><p> </p><p>"Same way our ancestors did. Using stones and ingenuity. All except Noelle. It seems that she has her knives from our world. I looked forward in shock. Sure enough, checking my pockets, I had two of my favorite pockets knives that I kept on me, Bluebird and Yellow Jacket. Yes, I was one of those people. I felt comfort holding them in my hands. At least for the time being, they would help me survive in this world. </p><p> </p><p>"Wait a minute," I asked, turning to Mitch, "How did you know I had these in my pocket?" </p><p> </p><p>"We had to confirm your identity. Sorry dude." Mitch said, shrugging. I was annoyed slightly, but understood that they did what they had to do. After that debacle was solved, we made our way on our assignments, seeing the sun on the verge of setting. We were lucky that the island we were on seemed to be relatively warm. I figured it was probably somewhere in the East Blue, which brought me peace. If we were lucky, we would meet them, The Straw Hats.  </p><p> </p><p>"Hey," Rain said, turning her head to me. Her voice was soft, but direct, which was never a good sign. She was about to call me out on something. </p><p> </p><p>"Fuck," I said, stopping in my tracks, "Is this about me killing us? Cuz I am sorry about that." </p><p> </p><p>No, it isn't," she said, her face still holding that pained look of concern. "I thought we had been over this. Why are you hiding your feelings again?" I felt the heat rise to my face. She was right. It was the whole reason we split up, after all, even after all that therapy, I was still doing it, bottling up my emotions, not being completely forward about things.  </p><p> </p><p>"Sorry. I just don't want to worry you guys. That's all." I said, looking down. It was the truth, at least partially, but I knew there was more to it. I was afraid deep down. I was afraid that if I showed them any fear, they would abandon me. </p><p> </p><p>"Well, you don't have to do that." Rain said, with gentle sternness. "Now come on. Let's collect the lumber before it gets dark, ok?" I nodded, following her lead. Though I pressed on, my heart was still heavy. We spent the next few hours collecting whatever lumber we could, until the sky became a menagerie if reds, oranges, and violets. Finally, once our arms were stacked to the brim, we finally decided to head back to the beach.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Month 2: Bruised and Confused</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fiddling with the sand in my toes, I looked over at Rain, who was jamming her finger painfully into the tree. It had been one month since we had entered the world of One Piece, and Mitch has come up with a wonderful training idea. Marine Arts. If Coby could train in the Marine Arts and become a competent fighter in a few months, then surely, we could do the same. If nothing else, we would at least get to the point where we could survive one of Nami’s punches.</p><p>“Four more laps!” I heard Mitch call out, each word punctuated with a huff of exhaustion. Nico was keeping up, fairly well himself, which was impressive. Those two had been running laps every day for a month, and the progress they were making was genuinely impressive. Sure, they weren’t anywhere close to achieving Sky Walk or Shave, but they were able to do a dozen laps around the island without having to stop, which was better than I could do. I was really proud of Mitch, who had toned down significantly through his workouts. I couldn’t say the same for myself however.</p><p>I was practicing Iron Body myself. While my friends had adopted the mentality of “if they can’t hit me, I will be fine,” I adopted almost the opposite. I decided that, if I was ultimately going to be hit, I might as well learn to take the hits. That is how I ended up standing on the beach, trying my best to ignore my sensory issues, tightening every muscle in my body to the best of my ability. It was difficult, and my brain kept screaming at me to do something, anything, to get out of the sand, but I stood firmly.</p><p>“Rain,” I called out, “How is your training coming along?” I could hear in her voice the strain she was putting on herself. Of the Marine Arts, she chose the hardest one to do, Finger Gun. I remember reading the Enis Lobby arc in the manga, and hearing CP9 describe how often they came away with broken fingers while training this art. </p><p>“Doing alright.” She yelled back, though it wasn’t overly convincing. I couldn’t imagine the sheer amount of pain she was in, or the sheer image of her finger. I couldn’t doubt that she was tough though. Her ability to push through the pain was genuinely inspiring.</p><p>All of my friends were, to be honest. Not only were they pushing themselves every day in this bizarre world to survive, but even in our original world, they inspired me to continue to survive. They were my support system, the ones who held me up on my bad days. And I had failed them. I still held onto the regret of accidentally killing them in my stupidity. My thoughts started to spiral into darkness again, reminding me of that terrible world that I barely escaped.</p><p>“Noelle!”</p><p>I leapt. It hadn’t occurred to me that I was spacing out again, which I unfortunately tended to do whenever I was deep in thought. I turned to face my friend.</p><p>“Sorry Rain. Kinda spaced out there for a second. Would you mind repeating the question?” Turning over to her, I was shocked. Her finger seemed relatively fine, and despite the expectations, the tree she was practicing on seemed to have a small dent in it. </p><p>“I said, ‘How about you? How are your bruises?’” She repeated, approaching me. I mentioned earlier part of my training, but I never stated the second half. The second half of my training saw me tightening my muscles, as my friends proceeded to beat the shit out of me. My body was beaten and bruised every day, and quite a few times, I had ended up vomiting blood. I made quite a few notes to myself to never underestimate the strength of my friends.</p><p>“They are healing, relatively well.” I replied, groaning as I walked. In my defense, I was healing. I was just still in a lot of pain. Underneath my light green shirt, I knew my body was a deep pool of blues, blacks, and purples. Every muscle, bone, and nerve in my body felt like it was on fire. </p><p>“I think you need to take a break from that part of the training.” Rain said, that concerning look in her eyes again. </p><p>“I can’t do that. You know as well as I do that this world can be unforgiving. The way I am right now, Usopp could kill me with a punch. I have to endure the pain if I want to survive.” I replied, gently pressing my hand on my stomach. Pain flared through my body, as I winced in pain. Rain looked like she wanted to protest, but she looked down instead. She was smarter than she gave herself credit for. She knew I had a point.</p><p>“Any idea why we are here yet?” She asked, turning her attention to Mitch and Nico, who were bent over, hyperventilating from their own workout. Amongst survival, I had been assigned to figure out why we were in this world. Apparently, I was the only one of us who ended up in that weird darkness world. Just another tally on the “Noelle Luck” board.</p><p>“None. I have been hoping my dreams would reveal something, but unless we were sent here by carnivorous cakes and chess playing emus, then nothing has come up yet.”</p><p>My head pounded. I felt like I was forgetting something, deep down, like I already had my answer, but it was buried under a pile of rubble. Closing my eyes, I tried to work through the pain, to uncover anything I had. The more I dug, the more exhausted I felt. I felt my face contort in struggle, before I felt a hand placed upon my head. I looked up, realizing it was Rain, ruffling my hair. I couldn’t help but to smile, as my heart calmed itself.</p><p>“Gosh,” I said, blushing slightly, “How am I supposed to be a tough badass when you do this? I have a reputation to uphold!” Rain chuckled, her smile lighting up the island.</p><p>“My bad. I forgot.” She replied, but still playing with my hair. I didn’t really mind, deep down. My love language had always been physical touch, which she utilized whenever I was upset or in pain. Even in our friendship, we had a lot of physical intimacy.</p><p>“Clearly, you guys have the hardest training session.” We heard Mitch say behind us. Turning around, I saw him and Nico. They were drenched in sweat, and the smell hit me like an oil tanker. Let me tell you, the Sea Salt, Sweat, and Old Clothes are not a fun mix of smells. </p><p>“Sorry about that.” Rain said, walking up to Mitch, “We got distracted.” She rose to give Mitch a high five, which he responded. However, when their hands collided, they held them to each other, twisted their arms, and slid their hands down the others arms. It was their secret handshake; one they had done since they met each other.</p><p>“Mitch.” I called, my voice deadly stern. He turned to me; his normally apathetic look replaced with one of exhaustion.</p><p>“Sup?” </p><p>“I still need to do the second part of my training.” I said, coldly and directly. It was all I could do to not cower out of it. I always feared pain, especially as a child. It was one of the only things that paralyzed me, along with wasps and chickens. I had to stay strong, however, for my friends.</p><p>“Are you sure, Noelle?” He asked, walking forward, “How are you healing?”</p><p>“Fine.” I replied. Mitch cocked his eyebrow. My response was too quick, too cold, too direct. He knew I wasn’t being honest.</p><p>“If you aren’t healed, you can skip a day.”</p><p>“You know I can’t.” I shot back, getting angry at my own weakness, and the pity that was being shown to me. “If I can’t power through this, I will die. You all will have to watch me die. I... I can’t let that happen. So, stop giving me that look of pity!” There it was. The breaking point. I snapped at my best friend, who just stared towards me, his face one of apathetic disappointment.</p><p>“Noelle...” Nico started, before being cut off by Mitch.</p><p>“Fine, Noelle. But I am not holding back. Let me know when you are ready.”</p><p>Rain and Nico walked away. They hated seeing this, because it was never pretty. I stood in front of my friend, and tightened every muscle in my body, as I had done every day for the last month. Mitch asked if I was ready, and I blinked to let him know I was. That was when the first punch ripped into my stomach.</p><p>You need to understand, I use to body box my other group of friends. I was used to having my body covered in bruises at times. It sucked, and I hated it, but I was a stupid teenager who wanted to fit in. This wasn’t like that. The second his fist hit my stomach; any flexing I had done was gone. My body gave way horribly, and spit flew from my mouth. I fell to my knees, tears beginning to well up in my eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, you aren’t able to do this today.” Mitch said, holding his hand out to help me up. My pride only fueled my anger, as I glared up at him. “You can glare at me if you want, Noelle. But I am not going to let you do this today. You are resting!” We stared at each other for a solid five minutes, before I resigned myself to defeat and took his hand.</p><p>“Fine.” I said, angry more with myself than with anyone else, “But only today. You do not let me fail again tomorrow, ok?” Mitch nodded in agreement, and helped me over to our makeshift shelters.</p><p>“Noelle, I know what you are doing here.” Mitch whispered to me, slowly guiding me across the beach. “Stop punishing yourself.”</p><p>“I’m not.” I lied. I was, of course. I still hated myself for causing my friend’s deaths. Mitch shook his head, but dropped the conversation. Unlike my other friend’s, he never really pushed much. We walked in silence, until we got to my personal shelter.</p><p>“If we are in One Piece, what is your game plan?” He finally asked, helping me lay on my leafy bed. </p><p>“First, survive. Then, assuming we end up on the Straw Hat’s ship, take down the World Government.” I said, staring at the sand.</p><p>“Lofty goals. I just want to power break as much as I can, and have fun.” Mitch replied, with a laugh. “We should have a meeting though. Discuss the ‘meta’ of this world. Who knows? Maybe it will help us survive.” I nodded, before giving him a smile.</p><p>‘Maybe after I take a nap.” I said, laying down. My body was finally hitting the end of its energy. I felt my eyes close, and I drifted off.</p><p>When I opened my eyes, I was back in that dark dimension, but this time, it felt more solid. The darkness was more smokey, wisping over my feet. The air was heavy, and each breath felt like I was inhaling needles. I walked through the darkness, which felt weird. Though I couldn’t see, I knew where I was going, as if a voice was guiding me inside my head. Finally, I noticed a light in the distance. I made my way towards the light finally coming up on a small conference room. There was a large, mahogany table, surrounded by black, leather rolling chairs. I took a seat in one, throwing caution to the wind. Across from me, the darkness fused together into a feminine figure.</p><p>She towered over me, easily over 10 feet tall. She had short, black hair cut into a pixie cut. Her deep, orange eyes seemed to hold eternity in them. She gave a kind smile, but there was a mysterious aura about it.</p><p>“Hello, Noelle.” She said, giving a nod. I gulped, staring up into her eyes. I knew I was outclassed here, but I steeled my nerves, hanging on by my pure spite.</p><p>“You are?”</p><p>“Utris, goddess of fate. And you, my dear, are one of my champions. I am the one who brought you here.” I blinked rapidly. My brain did circles, trying to process the information she gave.</p><p>“Y... you killed us?” I asked. My confusion swirled with anger, nay, with wrath. I tried to leap to my feet, but as soon as I felt my body leave the seat, a strong force pushed me back down.</p><p>“No, my champion. You did that. I simply saved you all.” she said, a cold smile spread across her face. I knew it was true. Me lashing out at her was diverting my anger, but in reality, it was all my fault, and I had to take responsibility. I stared at the darkness, processing my thoughts, when she finally interrupted me.</p><p>“You seem conflicted, my champion. Talk to me.” </p><p>“I... I am upset with myself.” I said, my eyes going wide with shock. I didn’t want to open up about my feelings, but something inside me forced me to. “Because I hurt my friends. I killed them. How can I ever make amends?” Utris rose to her feet, and seemed glide across the black smoke. Taking my head in her hands, she began to stroke my hair.</p><p>“It is ok, my champion. I have given you the opportunity to make amends. Save them here. Protect them here, with all of your might. If you do my bidding, I am sure you will see that everything will work out ok.” Despite my lack of trust in the woman now holding me, her words were comforting. I felt safer in her arms, and my heart felt a drive to do her bidding.</p><p>“Yes.... I will.” I said, my voice almost hypnotic. My insides felt like a blender, mixing around, a mix of confusion, fear, anger, and hope. I tried to focus my feelings, to process, to make my own decisions, but it was like taking a bath in swamp water. The more I scrubbed, the dirtier they got. Finally, Utris spoke again. </p><p>“My champion. It is time for you to go back. Say nothing to your friends about this meeting. I will see them eventually. Be good, and protect the King of Pirates.” She released me, and gave me a smile. I felt compelled to look into her eyes, and saw the orange begin to swirl. It felt as if my soul was being sucked into them, as the orange engulfed my vision. The orange began to swirl, and I felt as if I was being launched into the air.</p><p>Next thing I knew, I was back in my temporary home, with Mitch sitting across the room. The small shack was at least big enough for a couple people to meet up in, which was night whenever we decided to have private conversation. Orange, red, and purple lights bled through the wood, giving me some hints to the time.</p><p>“You slept all day.” He said, with a smile, “And you were talking in your sleep. I sat here, cuz  you looked like you were struggling.” I felt my head, and realized I was drenched in sweat. Scratches covered my neck, which I realized was from myself. It happened whenever I experienced night terrors. I always ended up scratching away at my neck in those moments. </p><p>“Yeah, sorry. Is it dusk or dawn?” I asked, trying to sit up in my bed. Pain shot through my body, and I collapsed back down into the bed.</p><p>“Dusk. Also, you need to stay here. You are in no position to move.” I felt the anger in my emotion soup start to push itself to the forefront. </p><p>“I need to carry my own weight.” I said, trying to push myself back up. It was to no avail, however, as my friend shoved me back down onto my back.</p><p>“You have done enough. If you push yourself too hard, then you will be a burden even longer.” He said sternly, staring down at me. We glared at each other for a few solid minutes, before I resigned myself to defeat.</p><p>“Fine.” I said, anger and pride burning inside of me. “But I think I know why we are here.” Mitch cocked his eyebrow.</p><p>“What is that?” I thought for a second, trying to determine the proper wording. I didn’t want to reveal the truth about Utris yet, but I still needed Mitch to understand our goals.</p><p>“Just something I heard in my dream. ‘Protect the King of Pirates.’ I think... I think we need to make sure Luffy achieves his dreams.” I said, raising my eyes to meet my friends. A smile crossed his face, as he stared at the sand in contemplation.</p><p>“That is good. That is really good. If we can end up on his ship, then we may just survive in this world.” He said, looking at me again. “Noelle, you are a genius! Now, I have to go do some thinking. I will have Rain bring you some food.” I nodded, watching my friend leave. As I sat alone in the makeshift shed, all I could think about was the fact that I killed my friends. I decided that, no matter what, I would protect them, even if it cost me my life. My thoughts were interrupted by Rain bringing me food.</p><p>“Hey, how are you feeling?” She asked, taking a seat next to me, placing a wooden plate in front of me.</p><p>“Surviving.” I said, sitting up, grunting in pain. “Sorry I slept all day.”</p><p>“You needed it. You know it is ok to take a break sometimes.” She said, running her fingers through my hair. It did well to soothe my anxieties, but they still hung in the background of my gut. </p><p>“I...”</p><p>“Don’t even start” Rain said firmly, continuing to move her hand, “You did nothing wrong. Now, eat. We will talk in the morning.” She stayed, playing with my hair as I ate the slab of meat in front of me. It seemed to be some kind of rabbit, and as I finished my meal, she took my plate. “Good night, Noelle. We love you.” She said, as she exited the room. I laid back down, and as my eyes closed, all I could hear was Utris’ voice saying “Make amends.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: The first Devil Fruit is found!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another month had passed, and another month of training propelled us forward. While none of us were even close to being able to survive in the world of One Piece, we were at least a lot more fit than we used to be. All of us had downed down significantly, and Nico and Mitch’s legs were like cannons. Rain’s fingers got to the point where she was able to actually make a small dent in the trees, which was even more impressive. As for me, my pain tolerance had gone up significantly. After my horrible failure last month, I spent time focusing on my stamina and endurance, much to my benefit. </p><p>That lead us to where we were now, with Mitch ripping punches into my stomach with ferocity, as I flexed to intercept them. While I still felt the force of each punch, I was able to hold my ground relatively better. Mitch had gotten significantly stronger himself, as each punch felt stronger than the punch before.</p><p>“That marks 500.” Mitch said, letting his last punch fly into my stomach. The strike nearly dropped me, as I lowered myself to one knee. “You have gotten better.”</p><p>“You have too.” I said, coughs emphasizing each word, “You and Nico are way faster now. I am genuinely jealous.” Mitch laughed, and held his hand out to help me up. I took the offer, rising to my feet.</p><p>“You could always join us on our runs. Though, you may lag behind us for a bit.” He replied, looking around the island. In the distance, Nico and Rain were sitting by the makeshift tents, resting from their own workouts. </p><p>“Yeah, no.” I replied, scrunching my face up in disgust, “I can’t stand running. You know that.” Mitch cocked his eye back in my direction, before shaking his head. </p><p>“You know, if you want to survive, that isn’t very bright.” He said, stretching out his body. We each learned fairly early on that if we didn’t stretch, we would come to regret it later. In the distance, we heard the crunching of sand under bare feet. As we turned, we saw Nico approaching us.</p><p>“Hey, Noelle, would you like to come hunting for food with me?” He asked. While his smile seemed friendly, there seemed to be a hidden meaning behind it all. Nico was always an up front and open person, and as emotionally intelligent as Rain was. </p><p>“Um, sure.” I responded, cocking my head in concern. “Is everything alright?”</p><p>“Yeah.” He replied, shrugging, “I just had some troubling dreams, and I wanted to talk to you about them.” His face showed confused concern, as he looked down at the sand. When he mentioned a dream, I felt my heart drop into the pit off my stomach.</p><p>“Yeah, we can do that. Do ya wanna go now? Or go later?” I asked, stretching out my body. It was all I could do to hide my anxieties. </p><p>“We can go later when we normally go hunting. Just don’t let me forget.” He said with a smile. There it was. That smile that made Nico the “Multi-tool of Seduction.”</p><p>“Yeah man, no worries. Love ya dude.” I said, holding my arms out for a hug. He returned the hug, nodding before walking away. Mitch looked over at me, his eyebrow cocked.</p><p>“Now, Noelle. I know I am not the best at subtext...”</p><p>“Oh, you don’t say.” I interrupted, fearing I knew where it was going.</p><p>“But,” Mitch said, giving me an irritated look, “you seemed to have an idea what he was talking about. Does his dream connect to what happened last month?” I felt annoyance bubble up from my gut. Of all the times Mitch could be observant, why did it have to be now?</p><p>“Yeah. I think so. I will have to let you know later though. There is a lot more at play here, much to my annoyance. When I have all the answers, I will tell you.” I said, looking to the horizon. </p><p>“I am not going to make you tell me, but I don’t think it is wise to keep it to yourself. Maybe we can help figure it out.” Mitch said, turning towards me. I could tell he was annoyed with being left in the dark. </p><p>“Sorry man. I just can’t. Not yet. I promise, I will tell you eventually, ok?” I said, looking away in shame. I hated hiding things from him. Mitch had helped me through so much in my life, that hiding things from him made my heart hurt. He and I turned out focus elsewhere, trying to plan on how we would join the Straw Hats, until it was time to go hunting.</p><p>When the time came, I approached Nico. He was sitting by the fire pit, joking with Rain about blonde himbos and space cowboys. Seeing them joke about their own personal types of men they were attracted to steadied my heart. It almost brought a sense of normalcy back into the world, which was desperately needed.</p><p>“Hey, Nico. Are you ready to go hunting? I asked, joining them by the fire pit.</p><p>“Yeah, I am. Let’s go.” He said, rising to his feet. I nodded to Rain with a smile.</p><p>“See ya soon, Rain. Love ya.”</p><p>“Love you too.” She said, smiling. </p><p>“That’s gay. You Gaybo.” I said, laughing. She squinted at me, throwing some sand in my direction. I wish I could say that I playfully, yet adeptly dodged out of the way, showing the grace of a ballerina. In truth, as I tried to jump away, I slipped and fell into the sand. As I stood up, I could hear my friends laughing at my blunder, and my shame was hidden by more own enjoyment of my failure.</p><p>Nico and I made our way out into the woods, a knife in my hand, and a rock spear in his. We had evolved our weapons over the past couple months, from just base rocks to full stone weapons. We were fortunate that Mitch held most of the brain cells in the group, because we would never have survived without him.</p><p>“Hey, Noelle.” Nico finally said, as we crouched in a nearby bush.</p><p>“Sup dude?” I asked, turning my attention towards him. Hunting was important, of course, but making sure my friend was ok always took priority. I placed my hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him, as he stared at the ground.</p><p>“Do you remember the dark place you went to? The one right after the accident?” He asked, finally looking at my face. How could I forget? Both times I went there saw me experience insane sensory issues, and deal with a hypnotic goddess who I still didn’t fully trust.</p><p>“Unfortunately. Don’t tell me...” I let my voice drag off. I knew what he was about to say, which didn’t help my anxiety at all.</p><p>“Yeah. I went there too. Met some lady named Ultras?”</p><p>“Ultis.”</p><p>“So, you met her too!?” Nico said, his voice showing more comfort and excitement. “She said you would know who she was, but she didn’t seem very trustworthy.”</p><p>“Yeah. She met with me a month ago. It seems she is the reason we are here. Well, aside from...”</p><p>“Dude.” Nico said, interrupting me. “That accident wasn’t your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself. Remember what we have worked on?” I knew what he was talking about. We had a basic processing strategy whenever we dealt with emotions. We let ourselves feel the emotion for a while, until we came to the point where we could ask ourselves if it was still beneficial. If it wasn’t, then we worked on moving on and finding a solution.</p><p>“Yeah.” I said, staring back ahead.</p><p>“So, is it still beneficial?”</p><p>“I haven’t decided yet.” I said in a monotone voice. It was the truth. I figured that if I held onto this feeling, then I could ensure I never made the same mistake again. That I wouldn’t allow my friends to die.</p><p>“Well, that is a decision you have to make. But we love and care about you. And none of us blame you.” He said, turning back to the front. There we crouched for hours, waiting for anything to cross our path. Finally, we saw something. A deer entered our vision.</p><p>“Ok.” I whispered to Nico. “You are a lot faster than me. Get in front of it. Lead it my way. I will stab it from the front, and you can get it from the side.” Nico nodded, readying his stone spear. We watched the deer, waiting for it to lower its guard. When it was significantly relaxed, I counted down on my fingers as a sign for us to rush. As soon as the countdown hit zero, Nico rushed forward in front of the deer, who proceeded to freak out. While it was distracted, I ran behind it, waiting for it to turn and run. </p><p>Big mistake. As it turned and ran towards me, its eyes flared with survival instinct. It raised its feet, and brought them down on top of me. I was lucky that I was ready, as I raised my arms to protect my head. Unfortunately, I heard a loud snap in my right arm, and based on the pain that flared through my body, I knew that it was broken. I bit into the cheek, trying to keep the deer’s attention on me, so Nico could take it out. That is when I saw the blood splatter across my vision. Above me, a stone spear protruded out of the deer’s face. It fell to the side, finally dead, and I saw a silhouette stand above me. </p><p>“Noelle! Are you ok?” Nico asked, rushing to my side. He held his arm out, and I took it in my left hand, rising to my feet. Each inch I moved, I screamed out in pain. I finally took the chance to look at my right arm, which was bent in about four different places. I normally didn’t get too disgusted from body horror, but knowing it was my arm churned my stomach. I bent over, hurling in pain and disgust. Nico stood back, watching in concern. I was fortunate that he was a a nurse in our normal world, and was used to seeing this.</p><p>“That doesn’t look good.” Nico said, looking around at my arm. “We will need to get you a splint of some kind.” I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes. I took a seat on a nearby tree trunk, while Nico searched for some lumber to use. As I rocked in pain, I felt something fall, and hit me in the head. As I looked at it, I realized it was a weirdly shaped fruit, colored with swirls of gold and silver. I recognized it as a devil fruit, which made me temporarily forget about the pain I was in. At least, until the pain flared back up again.</p><p>That was when a dumb idea entered my head. You see, I have always been one to take a risk, and give in to chaos. Using my left arm, I took the devil fruit in front of me, and took a bite out of the fruit. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had just thrown up, I would have again. The fruit tasted like sawdust and sweaty towels. I forced myself to finish the fruit, however, knowing the potential consequences. </p><p>I saw Nico approaching, but for some reason, he looked like he was elevated. He noticed me, and his brisk walk quickened to a full sprint. When he approached, I noticed I was at his knee level, which was weird. </p><p>“Nico, how did you get so tall?” I asked, cocking my head. He shook his head, and tried to grab my arm.</p><p>“You are sinking, dude!” He said, trying to pull me up. As he lifted, however, he fell hard to the ground. “Dude, you weigh a ton!”</p><p>“Really? A fat joke?” I asked, my brow furrowed. I hated jokes about my weight more than anything. </p><p>“No, dude. You literally weigh like a ton!” He said, trying to pull me up again. As I tried to lift my arm, I realized he had a point. It did feel like my arm weighed a metric ton. I panicked, trying to pull myself up, and saw my whole body take on a golden sheen.<br/>“Wh... what is going on?” Nico asked, backing away. I realized that I was completely made of gold, which made me a mix of excited and fearful. I focused my attention on trying to pull myself up, to not fall deeper into the earth. I focused on the gold in my body, hoping that I could manipulate it. I would be lucky if I was a Logia type, but the likelihood was low. However, my focus persisted. I slowly rose, watching as my eyeline gradually climbed Nico’s body, until I was finally standing on top of the earth. Nico stared ahead; his eyes wide.</p><p>“What is going on?” He asked, our eyes meeting.</p><p>“I ate a devil fruit. It seems I became a gold person.” I said, with a smile. The possibilities started to stir in my head. “I wonder...” As I turned to my twisted and deformed arm, I focused on the bones moving back into place, and melding together. As I did, my arm began to fix itself, melding and twisting back into its original form. Nico continued to stare on in awe. </p><p>“Did you just fix your arm?” He asked, his mouth getting more and more agape.</p><p>“I believe I did.” I said, chuckling, bending my arm back and forth. I felt myself begin to sink again, before refocusing on my weight. “Well, this will be annoying.”</p><p>“What will?” Nico asked, his face showing he was still trying to process everything.</p><p>“I have to really focus on not sinking down. Until I get a grasp on this power. Weight control. How ironic.” I said, with an annoyed chuckle. I was anticipating more weight jokes from my friends, which was one of the only things I was not looking forward to. </p><p>“Weird. Ok.” Nico said, turning back to the deer in front of us. “What are we going to do about that?” I looked over at the deer, my brain trying to rack through every possible plan to move our future meal back to camp. Finally, like a light bulb going off in my head, I got an idea.</p><p>“Nico, how confident are you in your strength?” I asked, an inquisitive smile crossing my face. He looked at me, suspicious, but curious.</p><p>“Fairly confident. Why?” My smile getting wider, I held out my hand. I focused my mind on picturing a giant sled, one big enough for the deer. After I had a good enough image in my head, I focused on conjuring as much gold as I could into the shape. I felt the energy drain from my body, as I poured everything I could into the sleigh. Finally, dropping to my knees, drenched in sweat, I looked upon my own creation with pride. There in front of me, glittering in the sunlight, was the golden sleigh I pictured in my mind. Its runners were long, connecting two thick stanchions to a flat, yet sturdy cargo bed large enough for the deer carcass. Its handlebars went out to either side, wide enough for both of us to push the sleigh with ease. The claw brake was shaped like an anchor, and had brakes on either side of the golden sleigh. The brush bow, the front of the sleigh, itself was sharp at the bottom, like a blade, which provided sufficient enough defense. Nico stared at the golden sleigh with intrigue and shock, as if he had seen a ghost.</p><p>“How did you know how to do that?” he asked, his eyes wide with surprise. To be completely honest with all of you, I had no idea. My gut told me to focus, and I did. I was unsure if this was Utris giving me a hint, or if I naturally got the idea, but either way, it was the best we had at the moment. After explaining that to Nico, we worked on lifting the deer onto the sleigh, which brought its own issues. I wasn’t used to being this heavy, so every time I moved, it took all of my energy. I felt bad, like I wasn’t able to keep up with Nico, like I was making him do most of the work. It made me angry at myself, and I forced myself through the exhaustion. After a solid 30-minute push, which was extended by me slipping a few times, we finally made it back to camp. As we arrived, I collapsed to the ground, exhausted.</p><p>“What happened?” Rain called over, rushing to my side. My vision was fading in and out, and I realized that I had pushed myself too far. It was a consistent problem that I had, and I always felt it for the next few days.</p><p>“Noelle is gold now.” Nico said, trying to help me up. It didn’t work. With me being so exhausted, I couldn’t control my weight very well. I even began sinking into the sand again, stopping when my body was about half submerged. Rain started to panic, and even Nico started to worry.</p><p>“I will be fine.” I said, each word punctuated with a deep breath. I was getting used to this feeling of sinking, becoming ambivalent to the whole situation. </p><p>“You ate a devil fruit!?” Mitch called, walking over to us. His face showed a rare moment of concern, as he approached. “What kind did you eat?”</p><p>“Not sure. I think I ate a Logia fruit, and now I am made of gold. I made this.” I said, trying to lift my arm. It didn’t move, of course.</p><p>“I assume you mean the sleigh.” Mitch said, looking at me trying to lift my arm. “Honestly, that is impressive. You said you are completely gold?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“That explains why you are sinking down, then. You must weigh about a ton.” He said, which got a glare from me. “Hey, I am being serious. That wasn’t a fat joke. I mean you probably weigh a literal ton.” I still glared at him, but resigned myself to accepting his explanation. Besides, in my new body, I wasn’t even close to being fat. I was an Oda girl now, and my proportions were admittedly very weird. </p><p>“Fine.” I said, turning my head away. I tried to focus as much energy as much as I could, and felt myself start to lift from the ground. Rain leaned back in shock, as I finally placed myself onto the sand, my feet sinking down slightly. </p><p>“Hey, Noelle.” Mitch said, looking at my feel in contemplation. “Have you tried making thin, golden platforms under your feet?” I cocked my head in confusion, staring him in the eyes. That is when it clicked. I forgot that you can disperse weight, and it will help keep things afloat. Focusing the last of my energy, I made my feet stretch out thin underneath me, and to my pleasant surprise, I stayed up on the sand. </p><p>“Mitch, you are brilliant!” I called out with joy. It was still difficult to walk, with my increased mass, but at least I didn’t have to worry about sinking down anymore. Rain and Nico looked a mix of impressed and relieved, especially now that I wasn’t sinking anymore. </p><p>“Of course, I am!” He said, laughing. He always did that whenever we complimented him. I admired the confidence he had, as well as his ability to accept compliments.</p><p>“This is really good for us.” Mitch said with a smile. I could see the hamster wheel in his head turning quickly. “We have an unlimited access to money.” He had a point. The more I thought about the possibilities, the more I realized how useful the power could be.</p><p>“But I wonder,” I said, thinking out loud, “What happens when a solid Logia type gets hit?” Nico and Rain looked ahead in confusion, clearly lost in our conversation. Mitch and I went back and forth, suggesting different situations. We went on and on for a few minutes, before we were finally interrupted</p><p>‘Guys,” Rain said, interjecting shyly, “I don’t mean to be rude, but we should probably do something about this deer.” We both turned to her, and realized that she had a point. We looked over at the deer, and started to plan.</p><p>“We won’t be able to eat all of that today.” Mitch said, shaking his head.</p><p>“No, we won’t.” Nico agreed, looking at the ground in contemplation.</p><p>“We could always preserve it.” Rain brought up, raising a finger in excitement. We each looked at her, thinking she was crazy, before I realized the point she had. Salt! Salt was great at preserving food when you didn’t have a fridge.</p><p>“She is right!” I called out in excitement. “Rain, you are a genius!” I gave her a huge hug, lifting her off of the ground. I forgot about the weight of my arms, which seemed to almost crush her.</p><p>“Noelle, my back.” She stuttered. I forgot about her back problems, which filled me with regret. I put her back down, rubbing the back of my head. </p><p>“Sorry about that.” I said, looking at the ground.</p><p>“I know what she means.” Mitch said, staring off in deep thought. “But how are we going to get the salt?”</p><p>“We can boil sea water.” Nico said, looking at the camp fire. “What do you say, Noelle? Are you able to make us a bucket?” As exhausted as I was, I knew he was right. I needed to help out as much as I could. I focused my energy on forming a bucket, so we could at least collect some water today. In front of me, gold fell from my hands, and formed four buckets. Sweat dripped down my face, collecting on the ground.</p><p>“Holy shit! Noelle!” Rain called, looking at my feet, “you sweat gold!” I looked down; my vision blurred. Sure enough, at me feet were about 10 coin-sized plates of gold. </p><p>“Well, that... will be... useful.” I said, on the verge of passing out. I knew I had one more thing to make before the exhaustion took me over. I focused on an image in my mind of a weird pot, one with a lid that hung over. In front of me, the object shaped itself, matching the image in my mind. I smiled, seeing my friends’ happy expressions.</p><p>“Noelle! You did amazing!” Nico called, grabbing his bucket.</p><p>“I am proud of you!” Rain called over, hugging me.</p><p>“Thanks.” I said, barely holding on to consciousness. “I am honestly proud of myself.” Mitch walked up, patting me on the back. A loud clang rang out, and he pulled his hand back, rubbing it.</p><p>“You should be.” He said, slightly frustrated about his hand, “You did really well, dude. You have been a huge help.” He gave me a friendly smile, and it was the last thing I saw before my body finally gave out. I fell face forward, hitting deep in the sand, inhaling it in as I passed out. My last thoughts were of hope that my friends could move me. Otherwise, I would die right here and now, in truly the most shameful way possible.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: A picture is worth a thousand emotions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Four more months of monotony had passed. In those four months, all of us had made more progress in our selective areas. Half a year of training in a fantasy world will do that to you, apparently. Mitch and Nico were able to run at almost college athlete levels, and Rain was able to actually pierce the tree, ever so slightly. As for me, well. . .</p><p>“Noelle! You are sinking again.”</p><p>I turned my head to see Mitch running past, his face condensed in focus. Nodding at him, I looked down, to see the sand now up to my ankles. He was correct, unfortunately, as the sand as now rising up above my ankles. For the past half year, I had been working on my weight control. Mitch crunched the numbers, and I now weight over a ton, which caused a problem. Sure, I could now destroy a tree with a single punch, but I also went flying with said punch, could barely walk without overexerting myself, and found myself constantly sinking if I didn’t have perfect focus. </p><p>Furrowing my brow, I imagined myself as a feather. It was an exercise I had created over the last few months, much to my chagrin. It was a good-short term solution, but I had to constantly keep the thought I my head, lest I sink again. Unless I was able to make this process a subconscious one, I would be stuck with another large handicap in this world. I closed my eyes, figuring that maybe image training would help.</p><p>Yes, I was that level of weeb. When I got into anime, I saw how Goku would image train constantly, and it was something I actually used in my life constantly. Not just from a work out perspective, but even for directing and cinematography. In this moment, however, I was hoping it would help me control my new powers.</p><p>“How is it coming?” I heard Rain ask, causing me to open my eyes.</p><p>“Not well. I am still sinking. I just wish I could control this stupid power.” I glared down at my feet, wanting nothing more than to return to normal.</p><p>“Why don’t you just turn back? Focus on turning your power off?” She asked, cocking her head slightly. I blinked in confusion. My thoughts were filled with self-insulting thoughts for forgetting that simple fact about logia fruits. </p><p>“Rain, I could fucking kiss you right now.” I said, a smile growing on my face. </p><p>“I am gonna pass on that one.” She replied with a laugh. “Just get this figured out, ok? You and I have to go hunting later.” I nodded, turning back forward and closing my eyes. Instead of focusing myself like a feather, I focused on myself as I was. Just human. No gold. No extra weight. Just me. Impressively, I felt my body get lighter. The sand shifted around my ankles, and my joints seemed easier to move. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes, feeling myself to be completely normal once again.</p><p>Rain was standing there, a smile on her face. Losing myself in my joy, I ran up and hugged her, which she returned in full force. What I didn’t expect about being in my logia form was that I couldn’t feel things, not like I could prior. Sure, I felt the pressure of anything touching me, but that warmth that someone feels from physical contact with another person? I didn’t have that. </p><p>“Hey, you got it figured out.” Mitch called out behind me. Letting go of Rain, I turned to see Mitch and Nico walking up to us, drenched in sweat.</p><p>“Yeah. Dude, I forgot that I could turn off the logia mode!” </p><p>“Oh shit?” Mitch asked, looking at the sky. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He chuckled slightly, before dropping to his knees.</p><p>“Oh fuck. You guys went wild on the run, huh?” I asked, seeing my friend try to push himself off the ground.</p><p>“Yeah,” Nico replied, between labored breaths, “We tried to actually run in the sky today. It didn’t work out very well. Though, I bet it was a sight to behold.” He laughed, helping Mitch get off the ground.</p><p>“So,” Rain said, “It seems like we have all made some progress today. What is our game plan?” </p><p>Mitch and I exchanged glances. It was something we had been discussing for the past few months, but were concerned to bring up to the group. We had been here half a year. Surely the Straw Hats would have passed by here by now. If they had already passed by here, if we had missed out opportunity, what would that mean for us?</p><p>“Not sure.” I finally said, speaking up. “The timeline we have been here is concerning.” Nico and Rain looked at me, the rare look of despair on their faces.</p><p>“You have been the most optimistic of us since we got here,” Nico said. “It worries me that you look so concerned.”</p><p>“She is right.” Mitch replied, before I could get a chance. “The entirety of One Piece before the time skip was one year. We have been here for half that time. If we entered the world at the same time Luffy started his journey, then they would already be in Alabasta by now. Maybe even in Skypeia.” Rain and Nico shifted their looks between Mitch and I, and we knew the realization had hit them.</p><p>“So, we may be stuck here?” Rain asked, her voice more contemplative that concerned. Of the three of us, I would argue that she was the toughest. It was needed between us four. Mitch was definitely the brains of the group. A strategist to his core, he made the plans, and we followed them. I was closer the fighter, despite my genuine fear of pain and hurting others. I saw fighting as fun, where each fight was you putting your all into everything, and rising above any challenge. Pure, raw, unadulterated competition and improvement. It filled me with ecstasy.</p><p>Nico was the closest we had to a healer, or support in our group. He was a nurse in our original world, and definitely was the furthest along in his mental health journey. However, inside, he had this pure, masculine energy that he could carry into a fight. Despite this, he was definitely the one who provided genuine health advise, and had a pure love for his friends. He was closer to a war medic, than a doctor. Finally, there was Rain. If Mitch was the brain, Rain was the heart. She survived more than any of us three combined. Overcoming every single struggle in her life, she was able to still maintain a pure hope that mixed well with a depressive realism. She was an enigma, but she was the emotional core of the group.</p><p>“Potentially.” I said finally, thinking through the possibilities. “It depends who else passes by here.” I looked at Mitch, and could tell he was thinking the same thing.</p><p>“Assuming we missed our opportunity to join the Straw Hats, we only have two paths left. One I would classify as the neutral path. The other,” He gave out a shudder, “Is definitely the worst path for us.” I knew the two paths he was talking about, and I wasn’t ok with either one.</p><p>“The first path” Mitch said, drawing a line in the sand, “Would place us with the marines. We would have to hopefully hitch a ride with one of them when they head for Marineford.” He closed his eyes, and let out a sigh. “That is, if any would stop for us. This is definitely the neutral path.  If we end up at Marineford, however, we will most definitely die.”</p><p>There was a heavy air over the group. We all had already died once, and we didn’t want too again. Knowing our luck, we probably wouldn’t get another life like this one. Nico and Rain looked at the sand, dark clouds hanging over them. Even I struggled to stay positive. I hadn’t even told them the worse outcome yet, and already the news was kiling our morale.</p><p>“That isn’t the worse path, either.” I said, my heart sinking into my stomach. “With the Marines, there is a solid chance I am being paranoid. I mean, I don’t trust them, but there are some good ones.” My thoughts shifted to Smoker, Aokichi, and Garp. We had missed out chance to be rescued by Smoker, much to my dismay. He would have been the easiest connection to the Straw Hat crew. Aokichi was a Marine Admiral, and wouldn’t be in the East Blue, so that also meant we wouldn’t run into him. It was possible we would run into Garp, but doing so would sign our life away to one in the marines, and I wasn’t looking forward to that. Any other marine, well, it would be a true toss up if it would benefit us or not.</p><p>“But if we miss the marines,” I continued, “Then we are really in trouble. Only one other major people cross by the East Blue, and that won’t be for at least two and a half years.” I paused, trying to build up the strength to continue. “And they aren’t great.” I let my eyes fall on my comrades, and saw the worry on Rain’s face. I felt like she had an idea of where it was going.</p><p>“Rain, do you remember me telling you about Germa 66? Sanji’s family?” I asked her. I could see in her face that she remembered. The area around her eyes got dark, as her face contorted in anger and worry.</p><p>“Unfortunately.” She spoke. Her face showed that she was putting together the issue. Our eyes met, and in that moment, I knew that she was on the same page. She was worried more than just for our lives. Rain and I had countless conversations about why Whole Cake Island was one of my favorite, and one of my hardest, arcs to watch.  I related to Sanji’s past, too much so. </p><p>“I don’t really understand what is going on?” Nico said, “But I take it is really bad?” I took my time explaining to Nico about the abuses that Germa 66 did on the people of the One Piece world. I explained to him how Germa 66 were war criminals, how they were so notorious, they were actual comic book villains in world. The way Nico’s face contorted told me he understood all too well. I let my eyes shift over to Rain, who was staring at me intently. I could read in her face that she wanted me to be open about why Germa would have been rough for me, but I just couldn’t do it.</p><p>“So, what are we going to do?” Nico asked, looking at us three. I wanted to tell him it would be fine. That I had a plan to escape this. After all, this was the world I knew best. But I couldn’t. My mind was at a complete loss. I didn’t even have the strength or the confidence to pretend to be positive anymore.</p><p>“We leave.”</p><p>All heads turned towards Mitch, who had finally risen to his feet. His face had a rare focused intensity to it. Mitch was normally apathetic to most things, but seeing him decide to power through, to take charge, it was oddly comforting.</p><p>“What do you mean?” I asked, looking over at him. I knew he had been spending the last month trying to find some plan of escape, some way to escape a doomed fate. I wondered if he had finally come up with a plan, and just didn’t tell me.</p><p>“We build a ship. We leave. We take our destiny for ourselves and find the Straw Hats. We join their crew. And we survive!” The rare bit of passion in Mitch’s voice was normally reserved for when he talked about fan fictions he read, or the web novel Worm. Seeing him be passionate to bring us together was heartwarming to say the least.</p><p>“My mind is buzzing with a million issues with this plan.” I replied coldly, before letting a smile cross my face. “But if this is enough for you to show a rare bit of passion, I guess I have to go along with it.” Mitch and I shared an energized glance, before turning back to the others.</p><p>“So,” Mitch said, commanding the leader role, “We will have to split our time between training and making sure we have everything we need to leave. Which means our hunting trips have to not only be for day to day, but we have to learn how to preserve food. Which will be an issue in and of itself.” Mitch didn’t have to explain further. We came from an industrialized world, with refrigerators, freezers, and the likes. Finding a way to store meat here long term would be an issue in and of itself. Not to mention fruit as well, especially if we wanted to avoid scurvy.</p><p>“I vote” Rain said, looking up, “we spend the rest of this month planning and experimenting. Noelle has her gold power. If she can master that, it should make it easier.” I hated the pressure. It was one thing for me to put pressure on myself. I knew my limits. But being responsible for the livelihoods of my three friends, that was almost too much. I already killed them once. I couldn’t help but fear that I would do it again.</p><p>“True,” Mitch replied, looking at the ground, “But we can’t just rely on her. We all have to carry our own weight. We never know what could happen in this world. If the worst-case scenario comes to fruition,” He looked at me, his expression sullen, “Then we need to be able to survive.” </p><p>I knew he meant well, but it hurt. It told me that I was unreliable, that my own issues with strength, or mental health, or whatever would potentially doom us. It hurt. I felt a veil between myself and my friends. It made me angry, not at them, but at myself. I let them down. It was only fair that they didn’t trust me anymore.</p><p>“I agree.” Nico said. “For now, let’s just focus on survival, and planning. It will also give Noelle time to get her new powers under control. She has already made a lot of ground. Hopefully, she will have this mastered by the end of the month. I trust her.” At the time, I hadn’t heard the last sentence. My mind was too focused on my prior mistakes. If I had heard him, it may have saved me a lot of struggles. </p><p>After we wrapped up our meeting, it was time to go hunting. I was with Rain on this particular expenditure, which made me nervous. Normally, spending time with one of my closest friends would be exuberating. I would normally be able to let down my defenses, and be a goof ball, to feel safe. But today was different. Today, I didn’t feel safe around anyone. I felt exiled, and I certainly didn’t feel like being open about how I was feeling. Rain wouldn’t accept that, not from me anymore. She would be the only one who could pick up on my inner turmoil, and I knew she would try her damnest to drag it out of me.</p><p>We made our way into the wooded area of the island, with new weapons in tow. Gold wasn’t great for long term fighting, but it did its job better than stone. We were all equipped with spears and knives, enough for us to hunt with. Our strategy had become simple. Walk into an area where a large, violent game, and use me as bait. Because of my logia fruit, I was able to protect myself fairly well from beasts. Animals in this area didn’t have access to haki, and while they may have been able to dent my golden body, I didn’t feel any pain from it. While the beast was distracted with me, my partner would take them out from behind, right in the base of the neck. Quick, painless, and it preserved the integrity of the meat fairly well.</p><p>We made it a habit to use every aspect of the animals we hunted. Our homes and clothes were made of the hides of wild cats. The tendons we used for bows, though we hadn’t made a fully usable one. We would grind up the bones of our prey to use for fertilizer, for our crops. We did what we could to survive, and while it wasn’t luxurious by any means, we made do.</p><p>“Noelle. You are being distant again.” Rain said, as we made it deeper into the wooded area. “What is going on?” It was the question I had been fearing the most. I really didn’t want to discuss what was going on. It would get in the way of survival. I just had to bottle them up, and power through.</p><p>“Sorry. Just thinking about my jobs for the next months.” It was a lie, of course. I was reliving every mistake I ever made, every failed choice that led me to this outcome in life. Rain saw through my pathetic attempt at deception.</p><p>“You really shouldn’t lie, Noelle. It is ok to be open.” There it was. That same sentiment I always heard, but never believed. Not really.</p><p>“I will be fine. I don’t need to share.” I said, keeping my gaze forward. It wouldn’t do any good. I hated the normal platitudes that came from these conversations. They always went in circles, and instead of helping, they just made me dizzy.</p><p>“Noelle, you made so much progress. You know...”</p><p>“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Rain.” My tone was cold and dismissive. I hated that side of me. It was one I inherited from my mother, one I worked hard to keep under wraps. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Rain. I knew that I had crossed a line, that I had hurt her. It made me hate myself even more. I would have to add that to my list of sins to seek forgiveness for.</p><p>“Noelle.” She said, a slight coldness in her voice to. “I know you are upset, but that doesn’t excuse you being rude.” I let out a sigh, nodding my head. I apologized, and pushed on. I meant it too. She would know.</p><p>We kept walking for what felt like an eternity, before we found signs of another large cat in the area. Over the last half year, we had learned that large cats were the predominant wildlife on the island, to a dangerous degree. All of us being from Kansas, we at least knew the importance of population control. </p><p>We continued forward, planning our usual strategy. Target one prey, send me out as a distraction. I fight back to the best of my ability, then my partner comes in for the kill. It was just efficient. Both of us having the plan in mind, we followed the trail until we came up on a cave. Had we been smarter, we would have cut our losses, and found another trail to follow.</p><p>Following the plan, I walked up to the front of the cave. Repetition breeds perfection, but it also breeds arrogance. That was my big mistake here. I felt as though I could be fine, that I could mentally prepare to battle one single big cat. What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was a second one.</p><p>I knew I messed up when I felt three thick, razor sharp objects rip through my back, stopping just over my spine. Panic and pain flooded my brain, as I felt warm liquid flow down my spine. The yell that escaped my lips when I was struck was clearly heard by more than just Rain and I, as I saw through watery eyes another large cat leaving the cave. Thoughts of anger and fear mixed with the panic and pain in my mind, as I knew Rain would be in trouble.</p><p>Before I could push myself off my stomach, I felt a weight press down onto my back. I knew immediately it was my assailant, coming up to finish its job. The irony of the predator becoming the prey was not lost to me, and all I could think were thoughts that Rain would leave, save herself, and leave me to my fate. I deserved it after all. Succumbing to the assault of two large cats, I blacked out. </p><p>Hours later, I came to. Over me were Nico and Rain, applying first aid to my slashed body. I struggled to stay conscious, and I could tell I was dehydrated and dizzy. I must have suffered a lot of blood loss, because any clothes I was wearing prior were gone now. My body was wrapped up in make shift cloth from what I assumed were out clothes from the other world.</p><p>“Good morning, Noelle.” Nico said, trying his hardest to stop the bleeding. “You have lost a lot of blood here. I need you to listen to me.” His voice was comforting, but direct. “I need you to turn into gold here. If you don’t, you will die in the next few hours.”</p><p>I wasn’t really processing what he was saying. My head was buzzing with questions, which didn’t help my lightheadedness. Nico repeated the commands, slower this time, using physical touch to help direct my focus. It took a while, but I finally understood what they needed from me. Closing my eyes, I focused with what little energy I had into turning myself into gold. It took a while, but I finally managed it.</p><p>“Good.” Nico said, nodding, “Stay like that. First, it will help stop the blood loss. Second, it will stop the bacteria from causing further infection. Stay like that for a few hours, and the bacteria should die. From there, we can work on stitching your wounds up. Sure enough, that is what happened. They managed to untwine one of the shirts, and use it as make shift thread to stick me up. As for the infection, transforming into gold had stopped the spread of infection. I would be scarred for life, but at least I would live. While they stitched me up, they informed me of what happened.</p><p>“So, let me get this straight.” I said, when they finished recapping events from the attack, “After I went down, you tried to fight them off. They chased you down, until you found a devil fruit?” Rain nodded, confirming what I thought.</p><p>“The Gazo-Gazo no me, or the picture-picture fruit. At least, that’s what I was told it was.” She said, with a slight smile. “It is a pretty useful fruit.”</p><p>“How so?” I asked, cocking my head.</p><p>“Make a gold ball” Rain replied back, pointing to a corner of the tent. I did as she asked, and in response, she raised her hands to her face. Making a camera sign, the winked, and there was a blinding flash. When I regained my sight, the golden ball was gone, and she was holding a picture.</p><p>“Anything I ‘take a picture’ of that isn’t living is sucked into the picture. The only downside is that it prints from my mouth.” She had a disgusted look on her face. “I taste whatever is in the picture, with a hint of ink. That part isn’t pleasant.”</p><p>“Gothca.” I said, looking down. “So, you used this power, blinded the cats, and then managed to kill them?” Rain nodded again, pointing outside.</p><p>“Yeah. Mitch is cooking one of them right now. The other one is still in its picture. This solves our preservation problem.”</p><p>“It does.” I said, nodding. Inside, I was jealous. Rain barely had her powers, and she was already more skilled than I was. She picked up on it too, because she looked away.</p><p>“We should let her rest. She isn’t in any danger anymore, but she still needs to heal.” Nico said, picking up on the tension. Rain rose to her feet, leaving the room.</p><p>“Love you Noelle. Get some rest.” As she left, I closed my eyes, resigning myself to the darkness.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5: A Devil fruit to Keel for</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I stared out at the dying trees in the forest. We were well into winter now, which brought its own issues. While there wasn’t any snow, at least not yet, our normal sources of food had died or hidden away. Fish stayed on the bottom of rivers, the big cats hibernated, and all of the fruit had died. The only way we had been able to survive the last two months was by dipping into our food reserves for our journey. </p><p> </p><p>“This is the last of our reserves.” Rain said, ripping a picture of the carcass of a big cat. As the picture ripped entirely, the carcass spawned in the air, landing hard in the sand. The rest of us stared down, unsure of what to do. We still had another month of winter, and survival was going to be rough. I knelt by the carcass, beginning to skin and clean it. Mitch tended to the fire, while Nico and Rain sat around a golden pot of boiling water.  </p><p> </p><p>“This complicates things.” I said, my blade sawing through the hide. Blood splashed up onto my hands and face, which I had gotten use to over time. As the member of our group with the most hunting experience, I had gotten used to cleaning an assortment of animals. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t dirty work, but it was essential if you wanted to eat. “What do you think, Mitch?” </p><p> </p><p>“Not sure.” Mitch said, stoking the fire more. “We can try to keep hunting, but at best, we will find some local deer, and maybe some fish. My only fear is that we have pushed the deer population to the other side of the island by living here. If that is the case,” His face got stern, “It will take a lot more energy to hunt.” </p><p> </p><p>“I read somewhere that you can eat acorns.” I said, contorting my face horribly. “They won’t taste good, but we can at least survive for a little bit.”  </p><p> </p><p>“We should have rationed better.” Nico said, staring into the boiling pot. I knew he was struggling being away from his dog for this long, and the hunger didn’t help.  </p><p> </p><p>“Hindsight is 20/20” Rain replied, ignoring the grumbling coming from her stomach. The air over us was heavy with hunger and distress. We had made it nine whole months in the world of One Piece, which was an accomplishment in itself. However, if we died for starvation here, it would be fairly pathetic. I needed to find something to keep the morale up, to keep us motivated to keep surviving. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Rain.” I called over, cutting off another piece of hide, “I don’t think you ever told us how you figured out your power so quickly.” She looked over, confused. </p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t I?” She asked. We all shook our heads, confirming she hadn’t. “Well, after I ate the fruit, there was a voice in my head. Some woman’s voice. She introduced herself, but I don’t remember her name...” </p><p> </p><p>“Ultris.” Nico interrupted, looking down. He shook his head. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, that was it!” Rain exclaimed. “You know him?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. He is the one who helped me find Noelle after she ate the Gold-Gold fruit. I don’t know who she is though. Just the name.” Nico said. I could tell from his expression that he wasn’t overly trusting of Ultris. </p><p> </p><p>“She told me that she is the goddess of fate. I guess she saved our lives after the crash.” Rain continued. “She helped guide me on my fruit powers, at least a little bit. She said it wasn’t my time to die yet. Or Noelle’s.” She glanced back over to me. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” I said back, carving off more hide from the carcass. “I met her first. She brought us here. I guess she has a mission for us.” </p><p> </p><p>“I wonder why I haven’t met her yet.” </p><p> </p><p>The rest of us looked over at Mitch, who asked the question. His head was lowered in contemplation, yet his face was apathetic. I wasn’t sure myself. I tried to think of the only connecting thread between each meeting with Ultris. </p><p> </p><p>“I. . .” I said, turning back to the group, “I wonder if it has to do with the devil fruits. It seems every time we eat one, it is a moment of fate.” It made sense in my head. I mean, my introduction to her was a weird contradiction to that, but outliers happened all the time, right?  </p><p> </p><p>“Well then.” Mitch said, “Guess it will be a while until I meet her, if at all.” He went back to stoking the fire, which now burned fairly self-sustainingly. “Now, we need to discuss a game plan.” The four of us looked amongst each other, hoping anyone would speak up with an idea. Unfortunately, all that followed was silence. </p><p> </p><p>“Well,” I said, after minutes of silence, “I think we just keep being bull headed. We know there are still deer here. They are just hiding away from us. And we should have plenty of acorns.” The others’ faces contorted in disgust. </p><p> </p><p>“I know.” I replied to their expressions, “But it is either eat disgusting acorn food, and possible deer, or starve to death. And I don’t think we want to die again.” I was trying hard to be useful, after my failing the 9 months. I had been “hospitalized” at least three times since arriving to this world, and I kept taking resources away from the group. </p><p> </p><p>“This is a Shonen world.” Nico said, shrugging, “Maybe taking a ‘hit it harder’ approach will work.” This seemed to satisfy Mitch, who nodded. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think we have a choice in the matter. Rain and I will go and hunt for food. Nico, I want you and Noelle to go and look for lumber for our boat. It is time we actually start working on it, if we expect to get off this island alive.” We each nodded, agreeing to the plan, before finishing dinner prep. </p><p> </p><p>After dinner, we made our separate ways. Nico and I met up, I focused my power into making a couple of axes and a sleigh out of gold, and we made our way into the woods. Even though we had spent most of our time training, when we weren’t doing basic chores or hunting, cutting down trees with golden axes was something different. For one, cutting down trees used muscles that none of us were used to using. We would get half way through a tree, before we started getting tired. That would have been difficult enough, but the second problem added to the difficulty. Gold isn’t very tough. It is a soft metal, and dulls easily. One ax would even survive a tree, let alone the amount of lumber we actually needed. Every tree meant two new axes, and every new ax meant more energy spent. Through that in with the soreness and exhaustion from cutting the trees down, and I was on the verge of passing out. </p><p> </p><p>Nico picked up on my exhaustion and made sure to encourage me as much as possible. He scoped in on my pride, and made sure to use that to keep me going. It was smart, and I was able to push myself further than I would have been able to alone. After half an hour, the sleigh was full of hundreds of pounds of lumber. Nico and I were drenched in sweat from the hours it took us to complete our task. The once bright orange evening horizon had set, and now only darkness and starlight sat overhead. Nico and I looked at each other, knowing the worst were yet to come, and each took one side of the sled. Building up all of our strength, and managing to work in perfect synch, we managed to push the sleigh through the sand. After a what felt like a half hour of pushing, we ultimately collapsed to the floor. </p><p> </p><p>“We. . . need to take a break.” Nico said, falling to his knees. I wanted to argue, but my knees gave out as well. I struggled to even keep my eyes open, as I looked across the lumber to my friend. </p><p> </p><p>“It feels like we haven’t been able to talk in a while. Just the two of us.” I said, each word emphasized by labored breaths. “How have you been handling things?” </p><p> </p><p>“Not well.” Nico replied, his own labored breath harmonizing with my own, “It is hard to come to terms with the fact that we died. Definitely not at terms with the fact I had to leave my dog behind. And the idea that we may be stuck here with no hope is hard to process.” </p><p> </p><p>“That is valid.” </p><p> </p><p>“But,” Nico said, looking back up, “I have to trust that we will be fine. You and Mitch know what you guys are doing. You two have read so many fan fictions about this exact situation, I have to believe that you guys can get us through this. I just don’t know how I feel about living here forever.” </p><p> </p><p>My heart sank. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would never hurt one of my friends if I could help it. Yet, here was Nico, struggling and hurt, because I was stupid and crashed the car. I felt my self-loathing grow even more, and bit the inside of my lip until I could taste iron. I decided in that moment that I would make it up to all of them. I would prove to them, and the world, that I was sorry, and that I was useful. </p><p> </p><p>My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud crunch. I looked up as I saw Nico making a disgusted look on his face. My eyes shifted to the round object in his hand, and my eyes went wide. The object in his hand was a mix of red and orange, with a jagged design throughout the entire object. I recognized it immediately as a devil fruit, and shook my head. </p><p> </p><p>“Nico! Where did you find that?” I asked, my head cocked. </p><p> </p><p>“It was at the base of the tree. I tried to call over to you to ask you if you wanted a bite, but you were spaced out. I figured I go ahead and try it.” </p><p> </p><p>Hunger really does make people do crazy things. I shook my head, before letting out a slight laugh. Nico had stumbled into eating a devil fruit, and he had no idea. He now had the potential to survive in one of the harshest worlds in fictional history, and it was all because hunger took over for just a second. </p><p> </p><p>“Nico,” I said, finally controlling my laughter, “I appreciate it, but I wouldn’t have been able to take a bite. That is a devil fruit. I would have exploded.” Nico nodded, understanding better than I thought. </p><p> </p><p>“So, I have powers like you and Rain now?” He asked, cocking his own head. </p><p> </p><p>“Not exactly like us, but yes.” I replied, nodding. “I am intrigued to learn what power you get. But if I were you, I would finish eating that fruit. It may give you the ability to awaken your devil fruit later.” </p><p> </p><p>“Awaken?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” I replied, “Basically, with devil fruits, you can awaken them, which means adding a new power. We never learned for sure what the requirements for awakening a devil fruit was, but there is a very strong theory saying that you can only awaken your devil fruit if you eat the whole thing.” </p><p> </p><p>‘What would your fruit look like awakened?” </p><p> </p><p>“Not sure.” I replied, looking at the ground, “We have never seen a logia fruit awakened. I haven’t the faintest idea what it could ultimately do.” To that, I got silence. Confused, I looked up, to see Nico staring off into space. I called his name, to try to get his attention, to no avail. Eventually, I noticed focus return to his eyes, and saw him look up to the sky, pointing his palm parallel with his eyesight. What I saw next made my eyes go wide with awe. </p><p> </p><p>His arm shifted, widening into a hole where his palm once was. His peach skin shifted into a grey steel, and transformed. What was once Nico’s left arm was now a cannon. With a loud bang, a spherical object shot out of his arm and into the sky. Right when it was at its apex, and was ready to fall, it exploded into a rainbow of colors. We watched as the light and colors dissipated, before making eye contact. Nico spoke up before I could say anything. </p><p> </p><p>“She spoke to me again.” He said, his face intense. </p><p> </p><p>“What did she say?” I asked, adrenaline replacing my previous exhaustion. </p><p> </p><p>“She told me I ate the Ban-Ban no Mi, or the Bang-Bang fruit. I guess I can now turn my body parts into cannons.” He said, staring at his arm. “She said if I pointed at the sky, and focused on a firework, it would send a flare-type warning. Then we could get help from the others.” </p><p> </p><p>I processed what he said with wonder. Ultris kept showing up with every devil fruit we ate. It made things easier, at least, but that worried me. If it was that easy now, what would that mean for the future? Nothing was ever easy for long, especially with me around. I pushed the concern to the back of my mind for now, worrying more about the lumber was had to move back to our home base.  </p><p> </p><p>After sitting and talking for a while, Rain and Mitch finally emerged from the woods, drenched in sweat. Both wore looks of concern on their faces, and were breathing heavily. It was apparent to the both of us that they were expecting the worse, so we couldn’t help but laugh at the looks of shock on their face when they saw we were ok. </p><p> </p><p>“What happened?!” Rain called out, annoyed by our laughter. Nico and I filled them in on the most recent happenings of that night, and watched as both of our friends relaxed with every word.  </p><p> </p><p>“I hate this family.” Rain said, after hearing the story. </p><p> </p><p>“So, Nico is a cannon man now?” Mitch asked, with a smile.  </p><p> </p><p>“Yep. We have a Golden Girl, a Cam Girl, and a Cannon Man. All in all, I think this is pretty cool.” I replied with a laugh. Mitch looked over with apathetic concern. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe, but we are in trouble if any of you three fall into the water.” He said, his brow furrowed in thought. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, when would that ever happen?” I said with a chuckle. My attempt at a light-hearted joke fell on deaf ears, however, as they each glared at me with annoyance. </p><p> </p><p>“Way to jinx us.” Nico replied. </p><p> </p><p>“Ok. Ok. My bad.” </p><p> </p><p>“Anyway,” Nico said, turning over to the other two, “We need your help. This lumber is too heavy for the both of us to push back on our own. Can you guys help us out?” </p><p> </p><p>“Sure.” Rain replied, looking at Mitch, who let out an exaggerated sigh and approached the sleigh. The rest of us followed suit, and with all of our strength, we spent the next hour or so pushing the sleigh back to our home base. Finally arriving, we each collapsed in the sand, drenched head to toe in sweat, legs burning worse than almost any of us had experienced prior. After taking moments to relax, we each decided to call it a night. Going our separate ways, we went to bed. </p><p> </p><p>The next day, we followed our normal morning routine. We each washed our clothes, prepared and ate breakfast, and did our morning workouts. Afterwards, we decided to begin work on the ship. I had fortunately had carpenter experience in the past, and Mitch had studied to be an engineer, so we hoped with that experience, we could make a ship that worked pretty well. </p><p> </p><p>Mitch and I got started on the ship, as Rain and Nico spent the day gathering supplies. We learned the hard way that ideas on paper and ideas in practice were two very different things. The entire morning was spent using golden saws to cut the lumber down into planks. It was heavy, exhausting work, with more failures than we could count. Our hands were not as steady as they needed to be, plus the saws had the same issues that the axes had. Gold was too soft a material to do too much to the wood, and it dulled quickly. However, we had cut down enough planks to at least make a keel. </p><p> </p><p>The afternoon was spent making said keel. That itself brought issues along with it. The first challenge that we had to figure out was how to sand down the wood. At first, I tried to use my gold powers to “grab” sand and shift the sand into my person, allowing my hand to become sand paper. It didn’t work well, unfortunately. I didn’t have enough control of my powers to keep enough sand to make an actual dent in the wood. It had taken us half an hour to realize that plan wouldn’t work. </p><p> </p><p>The next idea was to shape my hand without the sand, and try to do a rudimentary coarse sand paper. We had better luck with that one. While it wasn’t perfect, we figured it would work well enough. The next four hours of that afternoon was spent sanding down every piece of lumber that we had cut, to a relatively smooth texture. It took extensive focus to keep my gold rough enough to actually work against the wood. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, after four and a half hours, we were ready to start constructing the keel.  After sanding the timber down to a smooth front, we had to whip out the saws once again. This time, however, it required more of a stable hand. We needed to cut the ends of the lumber into a scarf joint cut, which were a slanted cut with a perpendicular vertical stop coming up. It would allow us to stick and nail the timber together, to construct the rounded shape of the keel. This is where Mitch’s expertise came in. He was able to get a relative idea of length using my body as a measuring tape, and cut each piece of lumber to the length we needed. </p><p> </p><p>After a few hours of construction, we had finally finished the keel. A full 75-foot-long keel was positioned in the sand in front of us, and through our exhausted facial expressions, we were proud of our work. As we stared forward, we heard our friends coming back, and hoped we would have a solid meal for the night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6: A friendly spat leads to a crazy rescue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The quartet are finally fighting! Testing out each other's powers, they get struck by some bad luck. But fortunately for them, that bad luck takes a turn for the better.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The Straw Hats have finally arrived. Thank you all for being so patient with this series. I know it has been a slow burn, but I hope it has been worth it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I stood on the main mast of the ship, tying a hide sail to the pole. The last three months had been more productive than we had ever seen recently. All four of us had put all of energy to try to leave the island as soon as possible. We had shifted from winter to spring, and figured that, at the rate we were going, we would be ready to sail by summer. </p><p> </p><p>It had been an entire year since we had entered the One Piece world. In that time, we all had changed drastically. I could actually control my weight when I was in gold form, and learned some basics with creating smaller, more intricate objects. Rain had been experimenting with her own devil fruit power, learning exactly what she could and couldn’t store. Anything that wasn’t living was up for grabs; however, if something was considered alive and sentient, then it would simply exist outside the picture. As for her fighting style, she was able to make small holes in trees with her finger pistol. It was nowhere near as strong as any member of CP9, but it would at least last her a while.  Finally, there was Nico. He was insanely fast, faster than even Mitch. He had managed to improve shave, adding small explosions under each step to had extra power with each step. In terms of his devil fruit, he had been practicing with turning any body part, big or small, into a cannon. </p><p> </p><p>The only one who hadn’t had a devil fruit was Mitch. However, he had physically progressed farther than any of us. While he wasn’t nearly as fast as Nico, he had learned a little bit of sky walking, though he only managed to get a few feet of the ground. He ensured he was all around physically fit, able to survive more than deal a lot of damage output. It made sense, as he just wanted to have fun more than anything. But to have fun, you actually had to survive, and Mitch mixed his brain with his all-around physical prowess to great effect. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Noelle! How is it coming along?” </p><p> </p><p>My thoughts were interrupted by Nico’s call, shocking me back to reality and causing me to almost fall from my perch. Looking down at my friend, I gave a hopeful smile. </p><p> </p><p>“It is going well. We are making way more progress than expected. At this rate, we should be off the island in a month.” I hoped I hadn’t jinxed myself, at least. The last month of winter had been a rough one, but we had survived well enough. The night of the lumber, Rain and Mitch had found a large gathering of deer, and were able to get quite a few for food. We were back to our surplus of food, and everything was seeming to finally go our way. </p><p> </p><p>“I hope so. I am nervous about it all.” He spoke. Nico had been distracting himself by securing the hull, making sure that the base was strong enough to survive Reverse Mountain. “Will we actually be able to survive?” </p><p> </p><p>I understood his concern. We had made a solid life on the island. Our routine was secure, and we each had become true survivalists. The open waters were another story completely. Not only was the world of One Piece known for weather so chaotic, that it made Kansas weather look like Californian weather, but a solid 75% of us couldn’t even swim anymore. Not to mention, we had to contend with pirates, corrupt marines, Sea Kings, and three large humans with power fantasies. Plus, living on a ship was vastly different than living on an island, and with all of us being from Kansas, we had no actual boating experience.  </p><p> </p><p>“I think we will.” I replied, giving him a soft smile. “You three are so amazing in every way. You each have come so far in life, and have overcome every challenge that you have ever faced. Empirically speaking, we will survive if we have you three.” </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t sell yourself short.” Nico said, returning the smile, though I could tell it was a little pained. “You are just as important to this team. You have done so much to help us with surviving. I don’t think we could have made it this far without you.” I nodded, but purely out of respect. In truth, I didn’t believe a thing he said. After all, I was the reason we were in this world to begin with. I spent more time resting from injuries than actually helping. I was simply a burden, but a burden they were stuck with. I knew that my friends wouldn’t ever abandon me, so I had to make myself useful to them. </p><p> </p><p>“Either way,” I replied, going back to tying the sail, “We will be fine. That caution is wise, but we will be fine. I don’t have faith in us. Faith is believing without evidence. I have the evidence that tells me that we will be fine.” </p><p> </p><p>Nico nodded, before returning to his task of securing the hull. I returned my focus to the sail as well, only to be knocked back by a sudden, transparent wall in front of me. I fell back on a floor made of a similar structure, and looked around, confused. I noticed that the floor I was standing on was made entirely of glass, which confused me even more. I looked around, finding myself surrounded by glass on all sides. My brain immediately entered a panic, thinking that we were under attack from some nefarious pirates. I turned to Nico, ready to warn him of the worst, only to see him chuckling. </p><p> </p><p>Next to him, giving me a malicious smile, was Mitch. On Nico’s other side, Rain was on the floor, laughing loudly. It took me slightly too long to realize that Mitch was the reason I was trapped in this glass box. It seemed Mitch had found himself a devil fruit, and developed the power to summon glass. They had used the opportunity to prank me, and while I wanted to be upset, seeing them all have a rare moment of levity made it worth it. I felt the box move, bringing me to the sandy shore below.  </p><p> </p><p>When I finally reached the ground, their laughter had died. The glass around me disappeared, allowing me to move freely once again. Rain was still trying to gain her breath after the prank, and Mitch was still giving me that mischievous grin.  Shaking my head, I hit him in the arm. </p><p> </p><p>“Not cool dude. You scared the shit out of me.” I snapped at him, “When did you get the devil fruit?” </p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Mitch said, still smiling, “I found it like five months ago. I just didn’t want to eat it until I could at least sky walk. Plus, I wanted to surprise you guys. I finally ate it today.” The news threw all of us off. Mitch had been hiding this from us all this time? That didn’t seem like him. </p><p> </p><p>“That was risky. You don’t normally take risks like that.” I said back, looking him up and down. I knew that there were quite a few devil fruits that allowed people to shape shift into another person. I couldn’t help but worry that this “Mitch” was an imposter. </p><p> </p><p>“We also don’t normally live in the One Piece world.” He replied, shrugging. “I want to have fun while we are here. It was a calculated risk. I figured we would be fine, even if I had hidden the fruit from you all.” I scanned his face for any hint of deception, but found none. I glanced over at Rain, who had a greater sense of empathy than anyone I had ever met, and gave her a look. She shrugged, confirming that this was, indeed, our friend Mitch. Shaking my head, I resigned myself to accepting what he said at face value. </p><p> </p><p>“Fair enough. Guess that is a small enough thing that we shouldn’t make too big of a deal over it.” I said, looking at Nico. Everyone seemed to be in agreement, as we all turned our attention to the large ship behind us. </p><p> </p><p>“The ship is looking good.” Mitch said, after minutes of awkward silence. “Any idea when we will be able to leave?” </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle said in about a month.” Nico replied, with a smile. “I think it will be pretty exciting when it comes to it.” Seeing Nico’s opinion of the journey shift made me smile. I may have been a burden, but at least I was able to give pep talks pretty well. Mitch gave a nod, before turning back to me. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, then how about we spend the rest of today training? I am really excited to try out this new power of mine.” The rare excitement in his voice made me smile. You know those really quiet people, but when they finally do speak, they speak with enough force that it catches everyone's’ attention? It was similar with Mitch whenever he broke through his normal apathy, and showed a bit of passion and excitement. I glanced around to our other two friends, who seemed to share my joy. </p><p> </p><p>“I think that it a great idea.” I replied back, my smile getting wider, “So how about a 1 on 1 on 1 on 1? A full on free for all where we get to each work on our powers? Last one standing wins, and is excused from doing their morning chores for a week?” I thrived on competition, and I figured a fun little scrimmage between all of us would not only improve our skills, but also help alleviate some stress.  </p><p> </p><p>“I am down.” Rain said, cracking her knuckles. “It will be interesting to see how I hold up against you three. Your powers are way more fit for combat than mine.”  </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know.” Mitch said, turning his attention to me, “You are a Logia fruit user. We wound be able to really hurt you.” </p><p> </p><p>“I thought about that.” I replied, with a smile. “I want to train my instincts to turn to gold on a whim, like Crocodile does. I figured the best way to do that is to practice shifting to gold and back in combat, ya know? So, it will still come down to my own skills and awareness to not get knocked down.” </p><p> </p><p>“Either way is fine by me.” Nico said, shifting his fist to a cannon form and back, “I think my cannons will win here.” I could feel the competition rising and thickening in the air. It made my blood pump faster. This was a moment where I could prove that I was useful. If I could take down three of the smartest and strongest people I knew in a scrimmage, then I had a future in this group. Otherwise, I was in trouble.  </p><p> </p><p>“Fine then.” Mitch said, a rare fire behind his eyes, “But we need to establish some ground rules. The first rule we need to establish needs to be limiting how much force we put out.” He spoke to all of us, but his words seemed more directed towards me. </p><p> </p><p>“This is about my 1-Ton punch, isn’t it?” I asked. The 1-Ton punch was a sort of “signature move” I had been working on. For those of you who have never been in a fight, the strength of a well thrown punch not only comes from your muscles, but the weight behind it. When I was in gold form, I was easily over a ton of weight. Meaning, with each punch I threw, there would be one ton of weight behind it. That comes out to 8291.6709 N of force with every punch. It takes 3000 N of force to break a bone. That could be deadly to a person from our world. </p><p> </p><p>“That is exactly it.” Mitch said, shaking his head. “Promise you won’t hit us while in your gold form?” </p><p> </p><p>“I promise.” </p><p> </p><p>“Ok then.” Mitch replied back with a smile. “The next thing we need to discuss is a signal saying we are out. I don’t want there to be any confusion or miscommunication.” </p><p> </p><p>“That one is easy.” Nico said, holding up his hands in a Time-Out symbol. “We just call time out. That means we are out.” The other three of us looked at each other and shrugged in agreement. It was simple and straight to the point. </p><p> </p><p>	“Alright.” Mitch said, holding up three fingers. “The third and final rule we need to establish is boundaries. I don’t think we should take this scuffle throughout the entire island.” </p><p> </p><p>	“How about just a 100-foot range?” Rain piped up, raising her hand. This was also deemed acceptable by the rest of us, and with all the rules established for the fight, we each took stances 100 feet away from each other, and got ready to fight. </p><p> </p><p>	The sky was perfect for a scrimmage of this magnitude. Dark, heavy clouds filled the sky, ready to explode with thunder at any point. We could smell the ozone in the air, so we knew that a thunderstorm would occur at any moment, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, all that mattered was our silly, friendly competition. </p><p> </p><p>	When a bang of thunder rang out through the air, we rushed forward. Mitch and Rain immediately went for Nico, who had, in turn, began to shave past them. Reappearing about 50 feet behind the two assaulters, he turned quickly, turning both arms into cannons, and shot two cannonballs at Mitch and Rain. Both were ready, however. Rain turned with the bang, lifting her hands up in a camera formation in front of her face, and winked. A bright light went out, and the cannonball in front of her disappeared. As for Mitch, he proved why he was the smartest of us all. Holding his hands in front of him, he closed them into fists, and a glass box appeared around the cannonball. Spinning his body, the glass box containing the cannonball moved with his body, taking the momentum of the cannonball with it. When he made almost a full rotation, he released his hands, removing the glass box, and sending the cannonball back at Nico. Nico himself was ready, though, shooting another cannonball at the reversed projectile, and destroying it with a loud explosion. </p><p> </p><p>	While they all moved with grace, I couldn’t help but watch in amazement. They were all using their powers in such unique ways, and all I could do was box, and that was still amateur at best. As the three continued to dance around, creating glass barriers, or shooting cannonballs, or removing full hurdles from the battle field, I stood, trying to contemplate how to get in close. If I could get a few well-timed punches in, then I may be able to secure a victory. But I wouldn’t be able to get in at all with the chaos in front of me. Furrowing my brow, I tried to think about any possible solution. How could I make a ranged attack, without tipping them off that I was attacking? Then I hit me. </p><p> </p><p>	Glitter shotgun. I focused all of my energy into shifting into a golden form, and brought my fist back. I agreed I wouldn’t do a 1-Ton punch, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t shift the idea. I generated small, golden pebbles on the back surface of my fingers. I watched intently as my three temporary foes met once again in the middle. With what I thought was perfect timing, I threw my punch, sending the golden pebbles through the air at my friends. </p><p> </p><p>	“Duck!” I yelled, hoping to distract them. I didn’t want to risk doing serious damage, but instead, I wanted them to disperse. That was, I could get in and take out Mitch first. Though I agreed that Nico had the most fire power out of us all, Mitch had the mind to take us all out way too easily. Knowledge is power, after all.  </p><p> </p><p>	Fortunately, they heard me. Turning towards me, they saw the glitter of metal flying towards them, and each dispersed. Rain leapt backwards, barely dodging a pebble flying right by her nose. Nico used his cannons to propel himself backwards, using the explosion to knock the gold attack of balance. Mitch used sky walk to dodge, but he wasn’t as lucky as the others. While he managed to dodge most of the attack with ease, one single pebble caught him in the side of the leg, cutting it open. He let out a yelp of pain, and dropped hard back into the sand. </p><p> </p><p>	“Sorry!” I called back over, rubbing my head. In my regret, I missed my chance to rush forward. The fight had come to a temporary stop, as we all caught our breath. </p><p> </p><p>	“New rule!” Mitch called over, still wincing in pain. “No using that move either!” </p><p> </p><p>	“Sorry!” I called back over again, but I felt ashamed. This was the exact thing that I was trying to avoid. “Are you good to keep going?” </p><p> </p><p>	“Yeah.” He said, rising back to his feet. His palms were stained a dark crimson from the bleeding cut. “Ready when you are.” We each took our original places once again, and with another call of thunder, the battle started back up. </p><p> </p><p>	Mitch went straight for me, this time. I had definitely pissed him off, though unintentionally, and it was time for him to get some payback. I rushed forward, ready to strike him in the stomach and take him out quickly. I was impressed with his speed, even with the cut leg. He and I stared into each other's eyes, as we rushed for combat. Looking back, that was my second mistake. I should have been watching his hands. </p><p> </p><p>	When we finally made contact, I went for a left jab, only for him to shave out of the way. That was when I felt the pain. Along my triceps was a red gash that stung like crazy. I yelled out in pain, and turned my body 180 degrees, to see mitch standing with a shard of glass in his hand, </p><p> </p><p>	“Now we are even.” He said, with a chuckle. I saw the glass shard shift and mold, growing itself out into a spear. “I am ready when you are.” I felt anger start to well up inside of me, but I managed to suppress it. I couldn’t lose control in a fight with a friend. </p><p> </p><p>	I rushed at him again, keeping my body low, and my arms up blocking my face. Mitch, in return, adopted his own spear stance, ready to strike at me where needed. He had the range and speed advantage on me, but I welcomed the challenge. </p><p> </p><p>When I was within range, he struck at my arm with his spear. This time, however, I was able to see it coming, and allowed my body to become gold right before the strike. The glass spear shattered against the now metal arm acting as a wall. I let my gold form drop, as I pulled my left arm back for another jab. </p><p> </p><p>Mitch reacted in tow, however, summoning a glass wall at the point of impact. Because I didn’t have my gold form up, my fist bounced off the thick wall of glass, causing me to fall backwards. Mitch used the break to launch himself back as well, and we stared at each other, both struggling to catch our breaths. </p><p> </p><p>That when we heard a loud boom, accompanied with a blinding light. Any sense of fighting stopped in that moment, as we looked over at the source of the flash. What we saw made our hearts sink into our stomachs. Our ship, our escape from this island, that was so close to completion, was ablaze in the shore. Lightning had struck the ship, lighting the thick wood on fire. We all wanted to move, to put out the fire, to salvage anything we could from the ship, but we were all too tired from the scrimmage. Our muscles wouldn’t move. We couldn’t do anything but stare at the burning ship in front of us, letting despair overtake our heart. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, we had our strength back. We approached each other, darkened faces of sadness on each of us, and discussed what to do next. We knew that it was too late to save our ship. The fire damage would have gotten to the keel by now, and once the keel was damaged, the ship was unsalvageable.  </p><p> </p><p>“We can always start over.” Rain said, trying her best to be hopeful. “We did it once, and now we have the experience to do it even faster.” </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe.” I said, but I couldn’t help but feel terrible. This always happened. When things were going well, they were bound to go poorly. That was the pattern of my life. </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle.” Nico said, putting his hand on my shoulder, “It will be ok. I know. . .” I shrugged his hand off. I know he was trying to comfort me, but I didn’t need the pity. We were all struggling, and I didn’t need everyone worrying about me when we all were disappointed. </p><p> </p><p>“Rain is still right.” Mitch said, with a sigh. I could sense that he was disappointed in my response, but I let it be. “Let’s go out and begin hunting. Finding lumber. Whatever we can do to get this situation out of our minds.” We all nodded, and while Nico insisted on going with me so I wouldn’t be alone, I shot him down. I needed to be alone to clear my head. </p><p> </p><p>We each made our separate ways. Nico, Mitch, and Rain all decided to go and collect lumber. I was responsible for finding food to go with our deer meet that had become a regular in our diet. I spent my time in the trees, searching for fruits and nuts that could draw out the flavor of the venison and could help us fight off scurvy. </p><p> </p><p>About an hour later, I was heading back to our home base on the shore, when I heard voices. Dropping my gatherings, I hid behind a nearby tree, ready to spy on our new arrivals. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe nobody is here?” I heard a deep, unimpressed voice call out. There was a familiarity to it, but I couldn’t place my finger on it, </p><p> </p><p>	“They might be deeper into the woods. We should explore out there. Besides, I need more fruits for our kitchen.” This voice was suave, with a distinct intelligence behind it. A breeze picked up, blowing my direction, and I got the distinct smell of tobacco smoke in my nose.  </p><p> </p><p>	“I got deeper-into-the-woods-it is! I think I should go back the The Merry.” I heard a high pitched, nasally voice cry out. That was a name I recognized. The Merry? They couldn’t be. </p><p> </p><p>	“Oh, cut it out, Usopp.” A feminine voice replied. “We are still in the East Blue. There shouldn’t be anything here that could pose a threat to you.  </p><p> </p><p>	That confirmed multiple things. One, we were definitely in the East Blue. Two, apparently time was moving much slower than it did in the manga. And third, these were definitely the Straw Hats. This was one of the best bits of news that we could receive. If they were here, then we could join them. I just needed to come up with an idea. . . </p><p> </p><p>	That is when an epiphany hit me. Rushing forward, I let myself turn into gold, bringing my fist back. My target was the green headed swordsmen that gradually became more visible with each step. As I got closer, I let out a battle cry, which caused the Straw Hats to turn towards me. I let myself fly, aiming right at the swordsman. He reacted exactly as I expected, pulling out a sword and slicing clean through my arm. The other Straw Hats let out a cry of surprise, as my disembodied arm turned completely into gold. </p><p> </p><p>	That scream of shock only got louder when I walked up to my arm, and planted it back onto my body. Zoro, the green haired swordsman, looked at me with suspicious annoyance. The blonde cook of the group, who I recognized as Sanji, had his screams shift from screams of shock to screams of love. I forgot that I looked like an Oda girl now, and if Sanji loved anything, it was Oda girls. The captain, a rubbery man in a straw hat named Luffy, had an impressed undertone to his cry, while the red headed woman, Nami, had Berry signs in her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>	The only one who had no change in reaction was Usopp, who now had tears and snot running down his nose. The look of some of my favorite characters reacting in such crazy ways to me made me double over in laughter, which didn’t help Zoro’s opinion of me. </p><p> </p><p>	“Noelle!” I heard a cry from behind me, “What is going. . . oh?” I turned to see my two friends rushing forward, ready to help me where needed. Mitch was the one who called to me, and seeing the realization on his face shift over to joy made me happy. </p><p> </p><p>	“Wait, are they. . .” Rain asked, before I interrupted her with a look. I didn’t want to let the Straw Hats know that we knew who they were. Zoro was already suspicious of me, and if I let on that we knew their identities, it would only be more suspicious. </p><p> </p><p>	“I am not sure who they are.” I lied, “I just saw the Jolly Roger and panicked. I mean, we haven't had many great run ins with pirates so far.” I gave the rest of our group looks signifying to play along, and they seemed to be receptive. </p><p> </p><p>	“Sorry about that.” Nami said, looking me up and down. I could tell that it was more out of greed than anything else. “We saw the burning ship and figured someone was in trouble.”  </p><p> </p><p>	“Yeah,” I replied with a chuckle, “We have been strand. . .” </p><p> </p><p>	“You are gold!” Luffy finally cried out, bouncing in excitement. </p><p> </p><p>	“Um, yeah.” I said, turning my attention to him. I had to push away my annoyance at being interrupted. “And you seem to be rubber.” </p><p> </p><p>	“Join my crew!” He called out, excited. </p><p> </p><p>	“Luffy.” Zoro said, his furrowed brow intense with the stare he was giving me, “She did just attack us. She may be an enemy.” </p><p> </p><p>	“How can someone so beautiful be an enemy?” Sanji replied, his eyes giant hearts. Suddenly, his face shifted from one of love to one of anger. “Wait a minute, Moss Head. You attacked her! I will kick your ass!” </p><p> </p><p>	“Curly brow,” Zoro snapped back, his sword turning towards the chef, “You are an idiot!” The two approached each other, before turning into a cloud of violence. </p><p> </p><p>	“Are they always like that?” Nico asked, pointing at the two crew members fighting. </p><p> </p><p>	“Yeah.” Nami said, sighing, “Just ignore them. I will stop them in a second. Anyway, we came here to help you, cuz we saw your burning ship. We had no idea that you would be so. . .” </p><p> </p><p>	“So powerful?” I asked. </p><p> </p><p>	“So scary.” Usopp cried. </p><p> </p><p>	“So freaking cool!” Luffy called. </p><p> </p><p>	“So golden.” Nami said, staring at the arm I reattached. </p><p> </p><p>	“Hun, my eyes are up here.” I called, gesturing at my face. This made Luffy laugh even louder.  </p><p> </p><p>	“I like these guys!” He called, falling onto his back with laughter, “I want them all to join our crew.” The four of us looked amongst each other, our eyes gleaming with joy. My convoluted plan had somehow worked, and it seemed that we would be joining the Straw Hats.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7: Not even Black Friday is as deadly as this shopping trip.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The crew get to Loguetown, and finally start collecting some supplies. Luffy ends up in a deadly situation.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys again for being so patient. We are finally in the actual story of One Piece. I am still experimenting with exactly how fast I want this story to go, so if you have any feedback, leave them in comments. Thank you.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“This is bad!” Nami cried out, tears almost streaming down her face. We all turned to her, only to see her drop the flyer that she had been holding in her hand previously. The paper fluttered down to the deck, only to flip over onto its back. We were able to see what had caused Nami to react so fervently. On the paper, with his giant, goofy smile, was our captain, Monkey D. Luffy. Underneath his picture were the words “Dead or alive. Beli 30,000,000.” Our dear captain had achieved his first ever bounty. </p><p> </p><p>“Ha ha ha ha.” Luffy laughed, picking up the flyer, “We are wanted Dead or Alive!!! They’re saying we are worth Beli 30,000,000!” Nami lowered her head in distress, as Usopp ripped the flyer from Luffy’s hands. </p><p> </p><p>“You guys really don’t get how serious this is.” She cried, shaking her head. “Noelle, I need some emotional support gold.” </p><p> </p><p>“That isn’t a thing, and you aren't getting any gold.” I said, shaking my head. For the past month since we left the island, Nami had been pressing me to give her gold every day. “I am not your personal treasury.” That only made Nami’s head dip more, as I turned over to Usopp, who was showing Sanji the wanted poster. </p><p> </p><p>“Look! I am on the poster! That means I am a real pirate!” He was cheering, while Sanji was shaking his head. </p><p> </p><p>“Congrats, Usopp.” Mitch said with a chuckle, “Guess that means the Marines can really start hunting you down.” Usopp laughed, stretching his slingshot back like he was ready for a shot. </p><p> </p><p>“They can try!” He said, acting like an excited child playing gunman, “I will shoot them all!” </p><p> </p><p>“Probably.” Mitch said, laughing, “I bet they will have to send the admirals after you then.” Usopp’s confident pose dropped, and his face adopted the usual scared expression we always saw. It was so common, that Rain and I had a bet that he was born with that same expression.  </p><p> </p><p>“The a-a-admirals?” Usopp stuttered, falling backwards, causing us all to laugh. I felt bad for the kid. If he could get over his fear, he truly would be one of the deadliest men on the seas. Suddenly, I felt pressure pushed on my back. </p><p> </p><p>“May I pleeeeeease have some gold?” Nami said, pushing against my back. She had divulged from using tactics of pity, and shifted to begging which I assumed had worked with some prior unfortunate souls. </p><p> </p><p>“Nope.” I said, stepping forward, and letting her fall on her face, “The more you ask, the less likely you are to get any.” She lifted her head, pouting, before turning her attention back to Luffy. The captain was teasing Usopp, who was still in a panic. She went over to the two, trying to get them to calm down. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know why you insist on teasing him.” I said, approaching Mitch, who was almost doubled over in laughter.  </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I am here to have some fun.” He replied, wiping a tear from his eye. “Besides, I bet you that once we are done with his confidence, he may actually be able to beat Akainu.” We heard a loud smack, as Nami had knocked Luffy’s head into the deck. “Do you think she has some Haki? She is the only person, other than Garp, who can hurt Luffy with the fist of love.” I looked down in contemplation.  </p><p> </p><p>“It is possible. If so, we need to figure out how to. . .”  </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle-chan!!!!!” I heard called behind me, turning to see Sanji running over. I had always loved his character in the manga, but I now understood Nami’s annoyance with his swooning. He was way too loud, and hardly gave a moment of peace. However, being pampered with delicious tasting food was almost worth it. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Sanji?” I replied, as he finally reached the two of us.  </p><p> </p><p>“I am taking lunch orders. What are you in the mood for today?” Sanji’s food exceeded expectations, even with how delicious normal anime food lasted. We were also fortunate that he was able to take some supplies from his old restaurant.  </p><p> </p><p>“Just a spinach salad with some poppy seed dressing.” I said with a gentle smile. He nodded, running over to Rain next to get her order. Being on a ship with three attractive women was apparently nigh too much for the poor chef. There was almost always a trail of nose blood following the poor chef. </p><p> </p><p>“Anyway,” I said, turning back my attention back to my comrade, “We should start drawing up plans to make everyone even stronger. I trust you can do that?” He nodded, turning to the crew, and adopting a furrowed brow. I turned, heading towards Nico, who was now drawing on some paper he had borrowed from Nami. I approached, taking a seat next to him. </p><p> </p><p>“Whatcha drawing?” I asked, peaking over his shoulder, and taking a glance at the paper. On the paper was a small, blonde man with spikey hair. I recognized who he was immediately. “Len, huh?” Nico playfully shoved me away. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, I need some sense of comfort. This whole world is new to me. My anxiety is through the roof.”  </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t blame you.” I replied, staring at the deck. “Mine has been bad as well. Being with the straw hats is a double-edged sword. Sure, we have some of the strongest people in the world protecting us, but we will also be in some of the most dangerous situations in the world. I think it is perfectly healthy to be anxious.” Nico and I made eye contact, and smiled. There was solidarity is struggle, and having company made it easier to overcome. We hugged each other, only to hear Usopp cry out overhead. </p><p> </p><p>“I see Loguetown!” </p><p> </p><p>The next couple hours were spent preparing to dock. While the crew, along with my three friends, worked to turn the ship and slow it down, I focused my energy on producing gold for each of us. I didn’t want to show my abilities in town, not yet at least. Doing so would only cause trouble, as greed was a huge motivator in this world. I produced about 10 pounds of gold coins for each person, which took some time. I hadn’t practiced much with minute engravings, so making them look authentic took practice. However, when it was done, I was tired, but proud. My timing was impeccable, it seemed, as I finished right as we hit the docks. </p><p> </p><p>“Ok, what is everyone planning to do here?” I asked, walking up to the crew. I wanted to get a full plan from everyone, before things got too hectic. Now that I knew there were differences in this world, I was nervous about what would happen here. Luffy already nearly died in this town in canon, but was saved by his father. What if he didn’t show up? Could this be the end of the Straw Hats?  </p><p> </p><p>Mitch saw the concerned look on my face, and placed a hand on my shoulder. I met his eyes, and understood what his gesture meant. He had been worrying about the same thing, but seemed to have a plan. Since we knew about the attack, and when it was going to happen, we could prevent it early. I guessed that what his goal was. </p><p> </p><p>“I am going to go see where Gold Roger was executed!” Luffy cried with excitement. Nami and Usopp tried to convince him not to go, but we knew there was no reason in pushing it further. Once Luffy had set his mind on something, there was no changing it. </p><p> </p><p>“I am going to go buy some clothes. Rain, Noelle, you two should join me.” If there were three things Nami knew, it was weather, haggling, and fashion. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to tag along with her. I looked over at Rain, who nodded in agreement. </p><p> </p><p>“Fine by me. I wanted to get some art supplies myself.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sure.” I said, turning back to the red headed thief, “But I have a list of things to get myself. I need transponder snails, paper, and I need to buy some trained seagulls.” Everyone looked at me with confusion there. </p><p> </p><p>“Why seagulls?” Nami asked, her head cocked in confusion. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, I want to start the Straw Hat Newspaper: Working to take down the World Government one story at a time.” Usopp and Nami stared at me in disbelief, while Luffy and Mitch laughed. Even Zoro let a small smirk escape his stoic exterior. </p><p> </p><p>“Even better!” Luffy yelled, laughing with each world, “Now we can be even more famous pirates.” </p><p> </p><p>“So,” Mitch said, laughing, “trying to take out the World Government? Bold plan, dude.” </p><p> </p><p>“Well, I am a bold gal.” </p><p> </p><p>“What about you, Zoro?” Luffy asked, turning to the green haired swordsman. “What are you going to do?” </p><p> </p><p>“I need to replace the swords that Mihawk broke.” He said, standing up. “I feel naked without three swords.” </p><p> </p><p>“And I have to go get some supplies for our kitchen.” Sanji said, lighting a cigarette in his mouth. Ever since I had quit smoking, the smoke irritated me to no end. Being around Sanji helped reaffirm that I may truly be a lesbian. </p><p> </p><p>“Usopp?” </p><p> </p><p>“I have to get supplies for my weapons, too.” He said, then turned to me, smiling, “In fact, knowing you has given me some ideas for a new attack.” I nodded at him, half paying attention. The stronger he was, the better, though his excitement was concerning. </p><p> </p><p>“I guess that leaves Mitch and Nico.” I said, turning to my old friends. “Nico, what are your plans?” </p><p> </p><p>“I think I will join you guys.” He said with a smile. “Now that I have the body I want, I need to find a new aesthetic.” The Straw Hats looked confused. </p><p> </p><p>‘What do you mean?” Nami asked, looking between us. I could feel a sense of suspicion between the crew towards us. Zoro still hadn’t fully trusted us after my plan to join the crew. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, I used to not look like a guy.” He said, shrugging. “I am trans.” </p><p> </p><p>“As am I.” I joined in, trying to provide Nico with some solidarity. That seemed to quell any confusion, as Nami and Usopp nodded in understanding. Sanji gave out a shrug, and gave a speech about how I was still a real woman. The only person that was confused was Luffy. After a lengthy conversation, he finally seemed to get it. </p><p> </p><p>“Ah, gotcha. So, Noelle is a woman, and Nico is a man, but they were wearing the wrong clothes. Nico opened his mouth to correct the captain, but I interrupted. </p><p> </p><p>“Exactly.” I said with a smile. The captain laughed, and looked towards the city. “Mitch, you never told us what your plan was.” </p><p> </p><p>“Simple.” He said, that mischievous grin on his face. “I am going to steal some Seastone Prism from the marines.” </p><p> </p><p>After about another hour, Nico, Nami, Rain, and myself found ourselves in a clothing shop, with Nami judging the three of us as we tried different clothes on. Nami was brutal, telling us which outfits did and didn’t work. By the time we were done, we each were wearing a different outfit, and had bags full on new clothes.  </p><p> </p><p>Nico’s outfit was the most different from his previous attire. He resembled a lumberjack with his new attire. He wore a blue and black plaid button up shirt, long jeans, and boots. It fit with his beard, which had been growing in smoothly. Anyone with eyes could see he was a handsome man, and was living up to the name “The Multitool of Seduction.” </p><p> </p><p>Where Nico adopted what could be described as Cottage Core, Rain was what I called Fairy Goth Aesthetic. She wore a lacey top, with only a black tank top underneath covering her chest. Her bottom had a silky black skirt, with leggings going down. On her back were a couple of lacey wings, and she had fingerless gloves on both hands, and thick black boots. The look fit her personality, which was cute, yet tough. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, I couldn’t have been happier with my drip. I wore a blue and white pastel skirt, which contrasted the black tank top I wore on my top. I had fish net stockings going down two a couple of stiletto high heels. Around my neck was a choker, and Nami had done my hair in a couple of small buns on the upper sides of my head. All in all, the clothing trip went well. </p><p> </p><p>We moved on to a nearby crafts store, where Rain spent his time gathering as many art supplies as possible. Nico used this opportunity to shop as well, causing the two to bond over their mutual love of art. Seeing them get along warmed my heart, as I knew that they would have been best friends in our original world too. I kept myself by the door, waiting for any sign of struggle. It could happen at any minute. . . </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle, what is wrong?”  </p><p> </p><p>The words shocked me out of my focus, causing me to jump. I could sense the store owner, as well as my friends turn towards me, and I saw Nico and Rain chuckle. Through my embarrassment, even I had to admit it was funny. The person who had approached me was Nami, and the look of genuine concern on her face was one with a rare subtlety. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. Just, keeping an ear out. There is a prominent marine base here, and if they know that Luffy is here, then I don’t need to tell you how bad things will end up.” The realization hit Nami like a truck, as she widened her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t even think about that fully. We have to stop Luffy from going to the execution block.” </p><p> </p><p>“It won’t do any good.” I replied, shaking my head. “Have you ever been able to convince Luffy to give up on something that he set his mind to?” Nami opened her mouth to contest, but quickly closed it and shook her head. </p><p> </p><p>“Exactly.” I continued. “They only thing we can do is listen for the marines, stop them once they show up, and be ready to leave as soon as possible.” Nami nodded, understanding exactly what I meant, and ran towards the ship. I figured by now, Usopp and Sanji should be getting there soon, and they could at least help get the ship set up. Maybe Sanji could even get to Luffy earlier. </p><p> </p><p>“Where is she going? Rain asked, once she and Nico were done shopping. I explained the situation to them, causing their faces to also contort in worry.  </p><p> </p><p>“I mean, Luffy will survive this, right?” Nico asked, picking at his nails in an anxious fit, “One Piece is known for how long it is.” </p><p> </p><p>“Normally, I replied, “I would say yes. However, they were also supposed to be at Sabaody Archipelago right now. Yet, here we are. If something as concrete as the timeline is off, what else could go wrong? We could have a full-blown butterfly effect happening, so we need to be ready.” </p><p> </p><p>“We need to head over to the execution block then!” Rain said loudly, causing the store owner to look up at us. I quickly made a gesture telling her to quiet down, and awkwardly waved at the store owner. Giving us a cocked eyebrow, he returned to the paper he was reading, and I knew he would see Luffy’s bounty soon. </p><p> </p><p>“I disagree,” I said quietly, looking at the ground, “If we all started rushing towards the execution block, then that would only attract the Marine’s attention. Instead, we need to wait until the marines start heading that way. For now, let's just continue on our way. Besides, I still have to buy my supplies.” </p><p> </p><p>I could tell that my two friends weren’t completely sold on the plan, but they defaulted to trusting me. I was our One Piece expert, and they trusted me to have the foresight to keep us alive. It was the least I could do. I had to have faith in myself. </p><p> </p><p>	AS we continued on, you could sense our anxieties. We could tell that we were getting closer to the marine base, as more marines started coming out of the woodworks. It took every ounce of control to not sweat bullets right away, but I knew that we had no reason to be worried. Nobody knew we existed, and we could use that to our advantage. Our anxieties were quelled when we heard the nearby squawk of a group of seagulls. Turning to the store, we sped walked in, finally letting ourselves breathe once more. </p><p> </p><p>	“Hello!” The store owner cried, trying to use an excited façade to hide his confusion, “How can I help you all today?”  </p><p> </p><p>	“Hello!” I cried, trying to but on a happy face. I forgot how weird we looked. Sure, Rain and I looked like we belonged together, with our similar goth aesthetics, but Nico’s cottage core look stuck out like a sore thumb. “I am looking to buy some Seagulls. How much are they?” </p><p> </p><p>	“These boys?” He asked, pointing at the seagulls, “20 a pop.” Now that I was able to take a closer look at the man, he was interesting. He was a short, stout man, with very patchy facial hair. His arms were covered in scars that looked like he had been attacked by flocks of birds, and he had a thick cigar in his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>	I counted the gold in my small pouch. I had Beli 136 on me, which wasn’t much. I figured I could buy four of the seagulls, and still have enough to get some transponder snails. I turned back to the gentleman behind the counter, who was smiling wide. </p><p> </p><p>	“Can I see the seagulls? I can only buy 4, and I need the best trained ones you got.” </p><p> </p><p>	Sure enough, the man’s grin went even wider. He began to introduce me to each seagull, telling the names of each bird, and a rundown of their personality and skills. Some were brash, acting either overly excited or aggressive as we approached. Others were incredibly shy, pulling away from us whenever we got close. After examining all of the options, I picked the four. Their names were Hermes, Malakbel, Agni, and Zaqar. </p><p> </p><p>	Hermes was a prankster. When we approached, he liked to nip at anything shining we had on our hands, only to hide them, or place them somewhere around his cage. Every time, he gave a small squawking laugh, which is honestly endearing. I knew he would be a tough, but reliable bird. </p><p> </p><p>	Agni was even more rambunctious than Hermes, but he was a ball of anger and aggression. While he would do his job, you couldn’t hand him anything without ending up with a bite or two. The shop keep explained that most of his scars came from Agni, which was concerning. However, Agni apparently was the best for long travel, able to protect himself from any predatory bird that attacked. The only one that Agni seemed not to attack was Nico, which shocked all of us. </p><p> </p><p>	Malekbel acted with a divine pretentiousness that caused fighting between the other birds. Despite their annoyance, however, Malekbel seemed to be the leader of the four. He held a sense of victory, like a general in an army. Solar was a true adjective to describe his personality, in every sense of the word. Malekbel seemed to hang onto me, though, which made me smile. I had a truly reliable helper then. </p><p> </p><p>	Finally, was Zaqar. Never before had I seen a goth Seagull until today. In sharp contrast to the origin of her name, Zaqar was in fact a girl, and was pitch black. She had a plumage that went over her left eye, and she stayed away from the other three. In fact, she acted with extreme anxiety, and seemed to attach herself to Rain immediately. We had let her out of her cage, and whenever she got scared, she immediately cuddled up against Rain’s neck. </p><p> </p><p>	We made our way out of the store, and down the street. We hoped to reach the transponder snail shop soon, so we could go and be ready for the worst-case scenario. Not to mention, the Marines were getting high in numbers, and were even questioning almost any passersby. </p><p> </p><p>	“Stop!” A deep voice behind us called, causing us to freeze in our tracks, “We have questions for you.” None of us wanted to turn around, afraid that something had happened. We knew Mitch was going to the marine base. Had he been captured? </p><p> </p><p>	“Which one of those seagulls is mine?” The voice continued, shifting from its previous deep, booming voice to a more familiar one. As we turned, we saw our old friend Mitch, laughing at the prank he pulled. Hermes also seemed to be laughing, pushing against his cage to join our friend and crewmate. </p><p> </p><p>	“Not funny dude.” I replied, shaking my head, “Looks like this one is yours. His name is Hermes.” I handed the cage over to Mitch, who immediately made eye contact with the bird. They held a staring contest, before breaking out into guffaws of laughter. </p><p> </p><p>	“Oh yeah, I like him.” Mitch said, turning back to us, “So, what all left do you have?” </p><p> </p><p>	“Just the transponder snail, and stopping the worst-case scenario with Luffy.” </p><p> </p><p>	“Oh, yeah. About that.” Mitch said, shifting a backpack that he had apparently purchased. “I went ahead and stole these as well. I figured they would have more reach, and there are some video snails as well. They may help your cause.” I looked in the bag and smiled. There, sleeping in the bag, were enough small snails for our entire crew, a large snail for our ship, and at least three multicolored snails that I assumed were the video snails. I looked back up at him with a smile. </p><p> </p><p>	“You are the best man! I fuckin’ love ya!” I exclaimed with a grin. </p><p> </p><p>	“Good.” He replied, “You should.” As we laughed, looking around at our gains, we heard a call in the distant that made us all freeze in terror. </p><p> </p><p>	“What do you mean Straw Hat Luffy is here and on the execution block!?” A familiar, deep, gruff voice called out. We slowly turned, to see a small marine talking to a large man in a white marine jacket. His hair matched his jacket, and he had a scar going across his face and around his left eye. He wore nothing underneath the jacket, and out of his mouth were two cigars with smoke billowing out of them. We each let out a collective gulp. There, standing 100 feet away from us, was Captain Smoker. </p><p> </p><p>	“This isn’t good.” I said, turning back to my friends. “Nico, the execution block is in the center of town. I need you to get there quickly. We won't be far behind.” Nico nodded, rushing forward with his cannon shave technique, as we followed behind. As we ran, I turned over to the large Marine captain, only to see him staring at us suspiciously. </p><p> </p><p>	As we approached the execution block, we heard Nico let out a gasp. Around us, a large crowd of people had gathered. On the execution block, Luffy was laying with a grin, clearly just finishing his famous “Sorry, I died,” line from the manga. Above him, swinging a sword down, was Buggy the Clown. We were about to watch our captain die.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chater 8: Logia vs. Logia vs. Rubber vs. Dragon?: A rubber boy's determination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Part 2 of Loguetown, and their big escape.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but is packed with dialogue. Thank you for all the support. I will be doing chapters as I find motivation, so sorry about the lack of schedule.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We watched in horror as the sword came down onto our captain’s neck. We were too late, and based on the clouds, there wasn’t going to be a lightning strike. This was it. Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, and future King of the Pirates, was going to die before the Grand Line. At least, that was we thought, but we were more shocked when the execution platform shook, throwing the sword off balance. </p><p> </p><p>	The early warning had worked. Sanji had managed to get to the platform, and kick it hard enough to throw the execution off balance. Thinking quickly, Mitch saw an opportunity, and took control. </p><p> </p><p>	“Quick!” He cried, “Nico, shoot the platform!” Nico nodded, doing what he said. We watched the cannonball fly overhead, as Buggy focused on trying to recollect his balance. My eyes shifted to our cook, who was now surrounded by some of the Clown pirates, fighting for his life. I scanned the area around, to see Marines ready to move in at any point. </p><p> </p><p>	“As soon as that platform falls, we are going to have a fight.” I said, turning towards my friends. “Smoker is already suspicious of us, and now, we just confirmed that we are Straw Hats. We need to come up with a plan.” </p><p> </p><p>	“I have an idea.” Mitch said, digging through his bag. “I got a lot of Seastone handcuffs, but I also found a Seastone shard in the base. I wonder . . .” His voice trailed off, as his face contorted in deep focus. As we watched, we heard the explosion go off in the background. We were out of time. I watched in panic as the Marines rushed the platform. </p><p> </p><p>	“Mitch, hurry up! We will hold off the marines!” I said, allowing my body to shift into gold. Rain took her own battle stance, holding a finger out on each hand, and Nico allowed both arms to turn into cannons. As we readied for battle, taking a triangle stance around our friend, the marines quickly surrounded us. I watched as Smoker rushed to the platform, and all I could do was hope Luffy had gotten away. I realized when I saw that familiar straw hat pop out of the rubble. I tried to jump at the captain, only to be blocked by a pair of marines. </p><p> </p><p>	“You are coming with us, Pirates!” They cried, pulling out a couple of swords. Behind me, I heard explosions and grunts from Marines being taken down. I had faith that they could take down the marines on their own, so I rushed forward. For the first time since developing the technique, I could finally use the 1-Ton punch in combat.  </p><p> </p><p>	I made short work of the two marines, punching through them, and watching their unconscious bodies crumple to the ground. At least, I hope they were unconscious. I didn’t want to be a killer. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check, before I rushed forward towards the platform. </p><p> </p><p>Smoker was grabbing Luffy by the throat, choking him out. Wait, he was holding Luffy! That meant that he wasn’t in his smoke form at the time. I let my fist charge up, and continued to rush forward, hoping the sounds of the battle going on around me covered my steps. My hope worked out, as Smoker didn’t notice me at all when I flung my fist into his spine. The Marine captain released the rubber boy in surprise, and flew forward, as I crumpled myself in exhaustion. I wished I had focused more on cardio when we were on the island. My gold form was taking up too much energy to maintain as well, so I let it fall. That was when I felt myself get scooped up.  </p><p> </p><p>“Good job, Zoro!” Luffy cried, bouncing back out of the rubble once again. “Let's head back to the Merry!” </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Moss head!” I heard Sanji yell, and while I wanted to roll my eyes, I didn’t have the energy to do so, “Watch your hands!” </p><p> </p><p>“Shut it, Curly brows!” </p><p> </p><p>I looked up to see a tornado of smoke grow behind us. I knew Smoker was pissed. I knew he wouldn’t make the same mistake again. And I knew that if we didn’t get to the Merry, we wouldn’t have a chance of surviving. </p><p> </p><p>“What happened to Noelle!?” I heard a familiar voice cry. I turned, seeing my other three friends running up. Mitch was holding a glass spear now, like the one he had when we fought, but now in the tip was the seastone he mentioned earlier. I couldn’t help but smile. We may actually stand a chance to escape now. </p><p> </p><p>“She saved me!” Luffy cried, turning to the others, “Nico! Was that your cannonball that destroyed the platform?” He nodded, which made Luffy smile. “I am glad we are friends.” The levity was needed as we ran through the crowds of Marines, fighting them off as we ran. At least, the rest of them were. I was still slung over Zoro’s shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>“Ok, let me down.” I said finally, shame overtaking my exhaustion, “I have to carry my own weight too.” Zoro nodded, letting me down finally, as I turned. I pulled my arm back, focusing my energy on turning gold once again, as I watched a group of marines rush towards me. </p><p> </p><p>“Glitter Shotgun!” </p><p> </p><p>Pebbles of glitter shot at the group of marines, taking them down, and allowing us to continue our escape. The smoke behind us, however, continued to grow, much to our dismay. </p><p> </p><p>“I wanna fight him!” Luffy was yelling, causing my attention to turn back to him. He was being carried by Sanji, who was in the middle of yelling at him for being stupid. </p><p> </p><p>“You already saw you can’t hit him!” the Chef yelled, “All we can do is run away.” </p><p> </p><p>“No!” Luffy cried out, swinging his arms around, “Pirates don’t run away.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sure, they do, Captain.” Mitch said, running next to the two straw hats, “Plenty of pirates take tactical retreats.” Luffy ignored him, still swinging around, trying to free himself with a tantrum. Overhead, the four seagulls squawked, signaling that Smoker was getting close. </p><p> </p><p>Before I could turn, and ready myself for a fight, smoke filled the area around us. Conglomerating in our pathway, the smoke formed a humanoid shape, and became the marine captain himself. Smoker stared down, an intense anger in his eyes, as the rest of us halted. </p><p> </p><p>“You four.” He said, breathing heavily, “I saw you four running from the shopping district earlier. I should have known you were pirates.” </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry about the cheap shot, Smoker.” I said, chuckling nervously. “I feel bad for hurting one of the good marines.” His eyebrow cocked at that line, before a feminine voice rang out behind us. </p><p> </p><p>“RORONOA ZORO! YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU WERE A PIRATE! YOU DON’T DESERVE THOSE BLADES!” We all turned, to see a tall woman with glasses, holding a sword. I recognized her immediately. </p><p> </p><p>“Tashigi!” Smoker called over, pulling out his jitte in preparation, “Are you telling me you saw the swordsman earlier?” </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, Smoker-san!” She called, her own face contorted in anger, “But I didn’t realize he was a pirate then. Don’t worry. I will make up for my mistake by taking him down now.” </p><p> </p><p>Zoro winced, muttering about Tashigi looking like “her.” Of course, Sanji freaked out, accusing Zoro of doing something scandalous. The hypocrisy wasn’t lost on the rest of us. </p><p> </p><p>“Guys, this isn’t the time to be fighting.” Rain said, turning her attention back to Smoker. For the first time since our escape, I noticed that she had two pistols in her hand. </p><p> </p><p>“Where did you get those?” I asked, keeping half of my attention on the Marine captain in front of us.  </p><p> </p><p>“Off a couple of those marines we fought earlier.” She said, smirking. “I think these are going to be my weapon of choice here.” That was when Smoker rushed us. I tried to turn into gold, when Smoker suddenly leapt back. Mitch was now in front of us, his spear in front of him, showing the aftermath of an attack. Across Smoker’s chest was a thin, red line. </p><p> </p><p>“Mitch! You cut him!” I yelled over, in shock. Smoker had always been one of the good marines, so I didn’t want him injured. We just needed to get past this single fight, and get going to the Grand Line. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey, it wasn’t a deep cut. He will live!” He called. I heard panic in his voice, which was rare. Mitch was always the epitome of composure, resigning himself to whatever happened. Seeing him panic like that made it hard to maintain my own composure. </p><p> </p><p>“Shit!” I said, shaking my head. “Zoro, you focus on Tashigi. Sanji, you get Rain and Nico back to the boat. Mitch, Luffy, and I got this.” </p><p> </p><p>“No!” Luffy cried, launching a kick at Smoker, which flew through the man’s body. “I want to fight him by myself.”  </p><p> </p><p>“You can’t hit him!” I yelled, finally snapping. “He is a logia user, like me! You can’t hit him unless you use Haki!” My crewmates looked at me in shock. It had been a while since I had fully snapped like this, but things weren’t going the way we needed them too. And with the storm coming in, we were losing our window every second. </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle.” Zoro said, his brow furrowed. “Luffy is our captain. What he says goes.” I knew the swordsman was right, but I couldn’t accept it. Dragon wasn’t here. If Luffy fought Smoker here, he would lose. He would get captured. The adventure would be over. I would have failed again. </p><p> </p><p>“Fine.” Luffy said, his own face scrunched up. “You and I can fight him. The rest of you, go on ahead.” Mitch wasn’t happy, turning back to us. </p><p> </p><p>“I should stay and fight too. I have the only. . .” His words were interrupted with a rush of smoke, sending him flying back. Smoker was now holding my old friend in a chokehold. </p><p> </p><p>“So, you are the thief that broke into our Marine base.” Smoker said, his brow furrowed. “Great. I can’t wait to arrest all of you, and see you in Impel Down.” That was when I sent a gold wall cutting through his hand. He was able to turn into smoke, but that was my goal. Mitch kicked off the gold wall, and was able to free himself from the smokey hold he was in.  </p><p> </p><p>“No.” Luffy said, shaking his head. “It wouldn’t be fair. You go with the others. Those are my orders.” Mitch resigned himself to Luffy’s decision, and ran over to the other crew members. They began to run to the ship, with Mitch using his glass to keep Smoker at bay. When all was said and done, the only people still around were myself, Luffy, Zoro, and our two opponents. We stared each other down, as rain began to fall down over us. </p><p> </p><p>“Noelle.” Luffy said, a deadly focus in his eyes. “You mentioned this Haki thing. How do I do it?” </p><p> </p><p>“Not sure.” I said, shaking my head. “All I know is that it comes from your own willpower, and is strengthened by life-or-death situations. You need to use something called Armament Haki to hit a logia user.” </p><p> </p><p>“So, I just have to try to hit him. Perfect.” Luffy said, his brow furrowed in intense fighting passion. “Perfect.” Before I could open my mouth to contest, the pirate captain rushed forward, pulling both arms back to strike at the marine.  </p><p> </p><p>“Gum-gum bazooka!”  </p><p> </p><p>His hands shot forward, at our opponent. The marine captain, however, shifted into smoke, causing the attack to fly straight through him. His body, in retaliation, snaked forward, wrapping the rubber boy in a death grip. I shot my own hand forward, grabbing my captain, and falling backwards, pulling him out before he could be captured again. </p><p> </p><p>“Do you understand now?” I said, still frustrated at the situation at hand. We were trapped between a rock and a hard place. Our one chance of getting away was ruined, our one weapon that could hurt Smoker was gone. We had no seastone at hand and. . . wait!  </p><p> </p><p>“Luffy, his jitte! The tip of his jitte is sea stone!” I cried, as our captain dodged blow after blow from Smoker. The rubber captain shook his head again.  </p><p> </p><p>“No. That isn’t fair.” Luffy said, “Which means it wouldn’t be fun. I want to beat him with my own skills.” Behind us, I heard the clashing of swords, and shook my head in agitation. What could I do here? </p><p> </p><p>I watched as Luffy shot more punches at Smoker, each one going through him with ease. Every time he got too close, I would shoot gold between the two, which made my captain mad. I realized the only hope we would have for winning would be that jitte. I watched for any moment that I could use to grab the weapon, when I suddenly felt myself shoved up against a wall.  Smoke was holding me down, and while that normally wouldn’t be a problem, the smoke rolling into my mouth made it impossible for me to maintain my golden form. </p><p> </p><p>“Stay away from her!” Luffy yelled, shooting another punch through the marine captain. Every punch he threw was causing him more frustration, and Smoker was playing off of that frustration, capturing Luffy as well. </p><p> </p><p>“I have never let a pirate escape from my island. You two will be going to Impel Down, even if those other escape.” I felt the life start choking out of me, the blurred voice of Zoro screaming for us as well. I knew this would be the end of my journey. At least I had saved my friends, showed them I could be useful. Hopefully they would forgive me for being so foolish. We should have let Mitch stay behind at least.  </p><p> </p><p>That when a green mist blew through the town, only to be punctuated by a loud grunt by Smoker. I turned my blurry vision over the marine captain, to see a hooded standing over him. Luffy and I had been let go by the captain, who had clearly been struck somehow. I couldn’t believe it. Dragon did show up! And he was almost too late! </p><p> </p><p>“Dragon. . .” Smoker growled, a trail of blood down his face, “Why are you here?” </p><p> </p><p>“I have my reasons, Smoker. But I can’t let you stop this boy’s journey here.” I could see why he was the leader of the revolutionary army. His voice alone contained power, and caused you to turn your attention towards him. He was the embodiment of power and charisma, and all it did was make me angrier.  </p><p> </p><p>“You there.” I heard him call over to me, as I regained my composure. “If you can’t protect your captain, you shouldn’t be a pirate.” </p><p> </p><p>“Have you met this captain?” I said with a glare, “He is stubborn. From what I have heard, it is something he got from his father.” This caused Dragon to look back at me, his eyebrow cocked. </p><p> </p><p>“Who are you?” He asked, turning his attention back to the marine captain in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>“Just a member of the Straw Hats, working to see Luffy become the next King of the Pirates. Next time, Dragon, don’t be late.” I called, running over to the rubber boy, who was still regaining his composure. Behind us, I heard Zoro running up. </p><p> </p><p>“We need to get out of here!” I yelled, only to be met with nod from my crewmates. They finally realized that we were in over our heads, and we made our way over to the Merry. As I ran, I looked over at Dragon, who was giving me a look that screamed suspicion. Great, now I had something else that made me sus. </p><p> </p><p>“You know that guy?” Zoro asked suspiciously as we ran. </p><p> </p><p>“Not really. Just that he is the most wanted man in the world, or something.” I replied, the nervousness in my voice clear to any observant individual. Zoro gave me the same suspicious look he had given me the entire time we were on the ship, and I knew any ground we gained was lost again. Just my luck. Loguetown, the easiest point for us on the journey, had ended up a disaster. I feared that we were now on a doomed timeline. </p><p> </p><p>“Still,” Luffy said, smiling, “I want to see him again. I owe him a thank you for saving us.” Zoro and I nodded, pushing on to the ship. We were drenched in blood and sweat from our fight, and the choking we experienced made it hard for us to control our breath. However, we managed to make it to the ship without collapsing. </p><p> </p><p>“There you guys are!” Nami cried, trying to control the sails with the crazy wind. “Help us control the sails! A storm is coming in, and we need to go now!” </p><p> </p><p>“What happened to you guys?” Usopp asked, stuttering with every word. </p><p> </p><p>“Marine captain.” I breathed out, shaking my head. “Barely made it out alive.” </p><p> </p><p>“That was stupid.” Mitch grumbled. “You should have let me help.” </p><p> </p><p>“Wasn’t my idea.” I replied, taking one sails, “I had to listen to the captain.” </p><p> </p><p>“Guys,” Rain said, pulling on her own rope to control the sails, “now is not the time. Get control of these sails.” We nodded, turning our full attention on the sails. After what felt like an eternity of fight the winds and storm, we finally made our way out to see, riding a large wave all the way out. Drenched in salt water and sweat, exhausted, and all-around annoyed, we all crumpled onto the deck. Well, all of us except Luffy, who was laughing about how exciting it was to be a pirate. </p><p> </p><p>“That went horribly,” I said to Mitch, who was clearly still upset. </p><p> </p><p>“We need to work on our communication.” He replied, breathing heavily.  </p><p> </p><p>“This is all new to us.” Nico interjected, approaching us, “it is obvious that things are different here than in what you read. We have to adapt as things come up.”  </p><p> </p><p>“I guess.” We muttered, too tired to argue anymore. That is when we were distracted by a large thud. All of us turned our attention to the noise, to see Sanji standing next to a large barrel. </p><p> </p><p>“We should do a special ‘ceremony’” Sanji said, smiling, “securing our promises here and now. Let’s each make a promise here, on the barrel. Let’s each promise to achieve our goals, and not let anything stop us.” He raised is foot like he was about to perform an axe kick, and slammed his foot down onto the barrel. “To find the all blue.” </p><p> </p><p>“To become the world’s greatest swordsman.” Zoro said, copying the cook. Soon, the rest of the canon crew followed. </p><p> </p><p>“To made a world map!” </p><p> </p><p>“To become King of the Pirates!” </p><p> </p><p>“To become a brave warrior of the sea!” That is when I approached the barrel. </p><p> </p><p>"To overthrow the World Government.” I cried. Rain followed me. </p><p> </p><p>“To take pictures of all living things in the world.” Nico approached next. </p><p> </p><p>“To destroy the big three Marine buildings.” Finally, Mitch approached, a mischievous smile on his face. </p><p> </p><p>“To find Raftel, the island that holds the One Piece, and put it in a bottle!” He said, slamming his foot down on the barrel.</p>
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